Live, Die, Repeat
by ThePhantomScribe
Summary: Tragedy at the Vytal Tournament leads to discovery as Jaune Arc discovers his Semblance and its ability to go back in time to undo his mistakes. Unfortunately, it only activates upon death. And... Jaune doesn't exactly have the best of memories. Will this knight be able to save his kingdom, and discover the truth behind the name of Arc?
1. The End

_**The End**_

* * *

 _ **Cover Art:**_ _drivorobotnik77 DeviantArt_

* * *

Jaune stood wordlessly as the sounds of destruction and the cries of pain echoed around him, his sword lost and shield hanging uselessly by his side at the end of his dislocated, bloodied arm. It was almost ironic how the namesake of the Coliseum he currently stood in belied the current situation as the gigantic symbol of unity continued falling from the sky.

"How... how did it come to this?"

He didn't even realize it was his own voice speaking his thoughts aloud as he thought back on his first tournament at Beacon. Teams RWBY and JNPR had been unstoppable, he and Pyrrha advancing after their initial team win and Yang forfeiting her spot to Ruby after what they'd all figured was her stepping down from the position. They should've suspected something was wrong then... but who could've guessed all of this? Yang was now nowhere to be found. Jaune and Pyrrha had advanced their team to the finals, as had Ruby and Weiss. And Weiss, in the ultimate display of submission and personal redemption, had let Ruby accept the honor of facing Pyrrha in the finals.

So why... _why_... was it the heiress' body currently sprawled across the floor before him, her skin as cold as the still blood in her veins flash-frozen by the spike of ice protruding from her chest that pinned her where she lay? What had she done to deserve an end like this, so gruesome and unexpected from a woman he'd heard her call 'sister' in her last breath!?

It was all so fast, the final fight interrupted before it could begin by an explosion which preceded a charge of men in black uniforms and Grimm masks that quickly overran the place, shooting indiscriminately at audience and students alike. Then the higher ups had come in, led by a guy with a chainsaw that took out the hunters and androids that dared oppose them... the Professors made headway against them, but even they fell short to a man wearing a katana and a custom tux who made short work of them, too. Ruby, Blake, and JNPR had done all they could, even with SSSN's help, but then the worst thing he could've imagined happened.

Students - at least, four people they _thought_ were students - suddenly turned on _them_ , every one of them going down one by one until only he, Ruby, Blake, and Pyrrha were left. He was knocked out early after a tiny girl sliced up his arm with a tiny sword, twisting his shield arm back till it snapped before punching him into a wall and knocking him out of the fight, presumably dead. Jaune watched the guy in the tux appear in a flash as he flew back from the small girl's punch towards the wall... Blake falling with another flash of the guy's katana... impossibly, Pyrrha going down to the woman with the fiery Dust sabres... strange...

His mind had gone blank for a while, never figuring out what had happened to Ruby before waking and finding himself where he currently stood.

Despite the searing pain, Jaune's torn knuckles turned white as he curled his fist up so tight that nails broke skin, his eyes stinging from the pain of salt and sorrow before he found the other bodies close by. Ironwood. Lain to waste with a scowl on his face as a broken pistol lay at his side... his hand seemingly busted into a million pieces which Jaune suddenly surmised to be a mechanical limb of sorts before his eyes traced a woman's hand holding the General's other.

Glynda... Goodwitch?

It, it couldn't be. She was the toughest woman Jaune could remember, but judging by the multiple burn marks and pieces of glass Dust littering her body, this was definitely the work of that woman who'd killed Pyrrha. If only he could find that fiery-eyed woman where she was now... he would make her pay. Somehow, someway... _she had to pay for what she'd done here!_

"Mister Arc..."

"W-Who said that?" the hapless knight eked out, his body visibly shaking from a strange mix of fear and residual anger only to dash forward to remove some rubble behind Glynda and Ironwood as he discovered Ozpin under the wreckage of the announcer's luxury box that had fallen to the stadium floor.

The Headmaster's legs had been crushed and he was bleeding profusely from his torso along a gash from his shoulder to his hip, but Jaune could see that the inflictor of the blow had met a grim fate himself... judging by the motionless hand still holding a broken katana out from underneath the main pile of rubble.

"Mister Arc... Jaune," Ozpin began slowly before coughing out blood on the small boulder supporting him and wiping his mouth clean with his sleeve, "You must, remember these words... _Everything happens for a reason_."

"H-Headmaster, I don't know what you mean..."

"I do not expect you to, not... right now," Ozpin continued haggardly, the blonde knight's panic rising as he saw the man's eyes already beginning to cloud over, "But you must know, that after initiation... I knew _you_ would become the only one who could end this... before it ever begins..."

Jaune's eyes widened, his throat tight to the point of barely letting out a croak as he managed to ask, "What? How?"

At that, the silver-haired man slowly reached behind himself with evident pain in his movements to pull out what Jaune immediately recognized as his family sword, Crocea Mors.

"Because... of who you are..."

Jaune wordlessly took the sword, the man's hand falling limp on the boulder with the last of his energy expended as he weakly wet his lips to add, "Call it an old man's final gamble... I saw the initiation tape. It only appeared that Miss Nikos unlocked your Aura... but your Semblance had already been unlocked... long, long before... If only we'd had more time..."

The student quickly looked around as the Coliseum made impact with what was presumably the tallest spire of Beacon and knew there was little time left. Despite it all, Jaune looked down in surprise to see his body beginning to glow a brilliant white now that the sword was in his hands and Ozpin cracking the first earnest smile he'd ever seen the stoic Headmaster give.

"And it seems the gamble paid off... Glynda... will owe me _quite_ a bit of Lien for this one. Be sure to remember my words; everything rests on you now... Jaune."

"How... What do I even _do?_ " Jaune cried out in disbelief as a second jolt caused the entire structure to lurch violently, large pieces of Amity Coliseum falling apart as an impossibly huge chunk of stadium wall began falling towards them.

Ozpin let out his final words in a single breath before his eyes slowly closed.

"Come find me... when you wake up."

In his last second of life, Jaune Arc looked up at the gigantic slab of concrete about to crash onto them and closed his eyes.

' _Wake up_... if only it were that easy. I'd just start back at Day One...'

* * *

" _GAH!_ "

The young man immediately jolted upright, his eyes wide as he furiously struggled to fight down his body's hyperventilation upon waking. Standing up and taking a final deep breath to regain some semblance of composure, he noticed that his hand was cradling his shoulder; pulling it back, he cocked a brow at his unconscious action.

His shoulder was fine.

Sure, his armor was dingy at best and could probably use an upgrade, but it seemed he was in decent working order. Stepping around a corner of the hall inexplicably filled with heavily-armed teens, he stopped as he chanced to pass by a full-length mirror to inspect himself.

Blonde hair? Check. Blue eyes? Check. Kinda scrawny body? Check. He huffed at himself as he resolved to work on changing that last part.

"My name... is Jaune Arc," he told himself with some surprise, partly because the phrase was the first thing that had come out of his mouth and partly because of how unsure his voice sounded as he said it. Shaking it off as he scoffed at the thought, his self-rebuking smirk quickly turned into a groan as he turned back at the sudden onset of nausea rocking his system.

"Ermahgerd... where am I..."

Stumbling forward, he caught himself with an outstretched hand against what immediately felt like a window, groggily picking up his head from his half-keeled-over state only to groan again at the realization that he was thousands of feet above ground.

"Bullhead... why'd it have to be a _Bullhead?_ " he asked himself as he turned and slumped back against the window, slouching down against the glass despite the curious glares he was receiving and placing an arm over his eyes to block out the sight. And the motion. And hopefully the airsickness.

How he _hated_ airsickness... he hated it, right?

Suddenly pausing mid-sigh, Jaune lifted the arm from his eyes with _very_ furrowed brows as he slowly... _slowly_... turned his gaze to gauge his surroundings.

A Bullhead? A blonde lady on ship-wide holograms rambling on about a "privileged few" and "prestigious academy"? Hormonal teenagers armed to the teeth with stupidly lethal tools of destruction!? Not a very wise idea, now that he thought about it...

Standing up and hoping to Oum above that the ship didn't make any sudden movements, Jaune began walking across the main room filled with said hormonal teenagers towards an extremely familiar building on the horizon growing closer by the second. But sure enough, the ship lurched to the side.

"Ugh, screw you, gods... _blergh_ ," was all Jaune could finish with before having to keep from blowing chunks all over the floor with a hand to his mouth. Looking around frantically, the only thing freaking out Jaune more than his impending humiliation was the increasingly intense sense of déjà-vu he was getting from the area.

'I... I know this place! I've _been_ here before! No wait, that's not right,' he thought quickly before accidentally swallowing his bile at the sound of a nostalgically familiar voice.

"Oh, wow! Look, you can see Signal from up here!"

Wide-eyed, Jaune turned towards the voice that had come from a few feet down by the windows, seeing a flash of red before his stomach usurped his full attention once again with a forced dry-heave. Finally finding his aluminum receptacle of salvation just behind the red-hooded girl who'd spoken and some blonde girl next to her, he noisily brushed by them to relieve the contents of his stomach into the bin.

" _Ughhh_... I don't remember eating any carrots..."

"Well, I guess the view isn't for everyone," a smug-sounding voice began from behind Jaune as he coughed out what was left in his system and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. Great, he'd gotten attention from his little mishap, after all.

"Yaaang... be nice!"

"There's that voice again," Jaune mumbled to himself before the first voice continued from right behind him.

" _Fine_. Hey, you holdin' up alright there, Vomit Boy?"

Grunting at the unimaginative yet still-insulting nickname, Jaune slowly stood and was about to protest the girl's choice in words before pausing at the sight of the two young women in front of him.

"..."

"Um... is that a no?" the shorter girl questioned, a brow raised at the seemingly awkward airsick boy before he finally shook himself out of his funk.

"Um, uh... yeah. I mean no," he corrected quickly, sheepishly scratching the back of his head before giving them a small shrug, "Sorry... I, guess I'm just having an off day. Name's Jaune. Jaune Arc."

"I'm Ruby!" the girl beamed again, confusion suddenly reappearing over the knight's face as the word _Rose_ instinctively rolled across his mind.

"And I'm bored," the taller girl mulled disinterestedly before idly glancing out the window, "Oh. At least we're here. Thanks for not puking on anything important, Vomit Boy."

" _Jaune_ ," the young man hedged under his breath as the airship finally docked, the kids all around him spilling out in excitement to the strange new place. Barely keeping from being run over by the stampede, Jaune turned back to where his new acquaintances - well, one acquaintance, one non-enemy(?) - had been, only to see that they were no longer there.

"Well... welcome to Loserville. Population: _One_ ," Jaune mumbled to himself as he stepped out of the ship, looking around and suddenly feeling the need to spit out the one word this place was causing him to think of as if it were a bittersweet treat he needed to roll off his tongue, "Bea...con... Beacon?"

He hummed at the word as he instinctively made to place his hands in his pockets and take a stroll around the place to see why it seemed so familiar before his left hand hit a metallic object en route to pocket. Looking down, Jaune took a glance at the vintage-looking weapon strapped to his side.

"A sword? Oh right, Crocea Mors," he mused aloud as if becoming reacquainted with an old friend before pouting at something about it that felt oddly out of place. Lightly bouncing it in his hand as if to test out its weight, Jaune then unsheathed the sword to see that it was as polished and immaculate as ever.

However, it was when he expanded its sheath that he felt something amiss. Or added.

"One... two... _three_ arcs?" he counted to himself as he ran a finger over the insignia. Somehow, it just felt like it wasn't what he was used to. Like it was... off...

Sheathing his weapon, Jaune paused as he looked around the wide courtyard, suddenly seizing up at an instinctive sense of danger.

"Uh oh," he noted aloud as he saw Ruby nearby, reeling and about to fall onto a large stack of suitcases. At that moment, Jaune somehow _knew_ that it would not end well if she did that.

"D'ooohhhhh... _uwah!?_ " the recently-ditched girl in red yelped as she was right about to fall back in a slump, her descent suddenly halted as she suddenly found herself cradled in someone's arms, "J-Jaune!?"

"Oh hey uh, Ruby," he replied unsurely, quickly letting her stand again and shuffling a step of two back himself, "Fancy meeting you here..."

She glanced at the stack of suitcases and back at him curiously, her eyes narrowing just a tad as she spoke up, "Yeahhh... uh, how'd you get here so fast?"

That... was actually a very good question. The blond knight faltered for a moment as he considered it. How _had_ he known to get there on time? Well, one couldn't go wrong with saying the truth, even if he couldn't quite understand it himself.

"Well, I saw you spinning around like that and was able to make it before you finally decided to fall back. I couldn't help getting a feeling that nothing good would come out of you crashing into this stuff," he noted with a warm smirk as he patted one of the fancy-looking cases, "You never know what's inside."

"Dust, you blundering oaf, _Dust!_ " a prissy voice began abruptly from behind the stack of cases before Jaune suddenly felt his hand forcefully pried off the case, "Mitts _off_ the merchandise!"

Yelping in pain, Jaune turned and scooted back to stand next to Ruby, his subsequent protest once again quelled in his throat as a flood of what felt like out-of-place memories filled him with information he could've sworn he never knew.

"You're... you're," he began monotonously, his eyes wide in unwarranted disbelief as he continued, "Weiss Schnee... heiress of the Schnee Dust Company... you're, _here_..."

Her impending tirade stopping cold in her own throat, Weiss stopped opening the case Jaune had touched and left the vial inside it as she turned to face the teens with a smug smirk, "Well then, some _proper_ recognition in this place for a change. It seems I chose my future academy wisely, after all."

Jaune glanced to his side to see Ruby cringing at the clearly uppity girl's attitude before Weiss continued, "As much as I'm sure you'd enjoy my continued company, I must get going lest any _other_ dunces nearly ignite my weekly Dust supply."

With that, the heiress strode off with her cart close behind, the two teens merely standing in her wake before Ruby finally called out, "Sorry!"

Jaune sighed, the shorter girl turning to face him with a renewed smile before adding, "I guess you were right. I'm kinda sensitive to raw Dust and stuff and it makes me awfully sniffly when I breathe any in... and here I'd taken you to be the awkward clumsy type!"

"I _am_ the awkward clumsy type... I think," Jaune corrected before surrendering at the silver-eyed girl's deadpan and raising his hands placatingly, "Fine. I _may_ have my moments every now and then, I guess."

Ruby's smile widened into a grin before she jutted out her hand at him expectantly, "Don't sell yourself short, it was a nice save! By the way, I'm Ruby Rose, sorry about the whole _Vomit Boy_ thing earlier."

"T'is a pleasure to _formally_ meet you," Jaune replied with a fake-regal accent as he shook her hand, causing the girl to chuckle before he added with a smirk, "But if you keep it up with the Vomit Boy gag, I'll just have to call you _Sniffles_."

"Hey, no fair!" she retorted petulantly, crossing her arms tightly with a pout that could make a puppy cry.

"Neither is that face!" Jaune complained aloud, playfully shielding himself with an arm over his eyes before being smacked in the arm by the girl, "Anyway, I take it you're as new here as I am?"

"Ye _p_ ," Ruby noted idly with a pop of the 'p' as she held both hands behind herself, shifting her weight back and forth between her heels and balls of her feet as she looked around happily, "I mean, it's _Beacon Academy_ , though! One of the best Huntsmen schools in all of Remnant! There's just so much to take in, just seeing the _weapons_ the people here carry is enough to give me goosies!"

Jaune gave a chuckle at the young woman, unable to do much else than acknowledge her definite aura of adorkableness before noticing the evident metal hunch on her back and getting on his tip-toes to identify the unique creation.

"Seems fitting, coming from a girl packing a customizable high-impact sniper rifle."

Ruby then let out an exaggeratedly long gasp of surprise, hobbling over wide-eyed to the blond in shock and placing both hands firmly on his shoulders before half-whispering, " _You know weapons_. We will be best friends!"

"Uhh..."

"Hehe, anyway," Ruby noted mousily and scooted back quickly, lightly blushing before clearing her throat as she pulled out the weapon itself with a grin, "Guess what it mecha-shifts into?~"

"Duh. A scythe," Jaune noted flatly with a smug smirk and a side shrug, "That beast of a weapon ain't exactly something you forget about once you've seen it."

"Um... I've never even opened my baby on this side of Vale before," Ruby noted slowly, all trace of previous excitement replaced with a tinge of her initial suspicion which caused the knight to try and find a save once again.

"Uh well, I mean, I'm sure that thing's got sister models and stuff that the manufacturer sells..."

"I built Crescent Rose with my bare hands."

'Quality save, Jaune,' he noted internally with a mental facepalm, going with a last-ditch effort which would just as likely leave his friend count for the day back at zero than not, "Um... right, then, I must've seen it... on the news?"

At that, Jaune was surprised to see that it was Ruby who was now not-so-subtly trying to find a decent save.

"Whaaaa? _Really?_ Nah... no way! They totally said that none of the footage made it to the news! Not that they would, I mean, cuz _my_ Crescent Rose wouldn't _be_ on the news! I'm just a normal giiirl... _withnormalknees!_ Okay Ruby, now you're sounding weird just shut your little face and-"

"Heh, you know, how 'bout I _toootally_ believe what you're saying right now and you _toootally_ believe that I'm just the world's best guesser. Fair deal?"

The crimsonette stopped short at the blonde's suggestion, mulling it over in her mind for exactly half a second before reverting to her normal standing position and giving him a quick happy nod.

" _Deal!_ ...Anyway, we should probably head to the auditorium. You know the way?"

Jaune scoffed light-heartedly, about to respond in the negative but slowly stopping as his gaze instinctively drifted towards a particularly promising entrance on campus.

"Actually... I think I do."

* * *

"Awww, this blows! Where else am I gonna find a nice, quirky girl to talk to!?" Jaune shouted to no one in particular inside the auditorium just after Ruby ditched him upon the blonde girl's calling. He sighed as he walked forward, mumbling angrily to himself about his shoddy luck before finding a spot amid the youths packed into the large room.

Jaune took a final step to settle in his spot but paused just before putting his foot down, looking down and grinning at himself as he put his foot down about four inches to the left to avoid the piece of gum on the floor.

"Hehe, you won't get me _twice_ , you evil piece of bubble gum..."

But as he processed his own words, Jaune's grin slowly began to fade as his situation finally began dawning on him. The Bullhead. The scythe. _The gum_.

"I've... actually _been_ here before?"

His question was answered, and the final nail hammered into the coffin, as the unmistakable voice of a man he'd never met yet knew all the same began to speak on the comm system from the platform.

"I'll... keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction."

Jaune's jaw had been dropping lower and lower as he watched the man. Everything about him, foreign yet familiar at the same time. Ozpin. Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon Academy...

"You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far."

" _It is up to you to take the first step_ ," Jaune whispered aloud, finishing the speech along with the silver-haired man simultaneously as he let his hand drift up to his shoulder. Something... was _definitely_ off here.

 _Come find me when you wake up..._

Jaune took a few steps forward as if in a trance, looking down at the ground before him as a woman's voice on the intercom directed the students to a ballroom before the first blonde's voice became discernible in the vicinity.

"He seemed kind of... off."

"It's almost like he wasn't even there," Jaune added monotonously, Ruby turning to face him with a wide grin as she noticed who it was.

"Hey, Jaune! I was actually right about to... say... that... Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah, right as rain," he noted softly, finally looking up and acknowledging the third woman in the group, "Hey, Weiss."

"Jaune, was it?" the heiress began politely, almost mindfully straightening her posture as if about to direct herself to a business partner, "I was actually just asking about you. It seems that in my haste to avoid any more... _near_ - _mishaps_..."

She paused to shoot a light glare at Ruby who merely shrugged in apology before the young woman turned to face Jaune with a placid smile, "I seem to have managed to forget the other half of our introduction. I'd hate to go without acknowledging the presence of _too_ many of those who've taken the time to appreciate _mine_."

"Meh, don't worry about it," Jaune remarked coolly, lightly waving off the statement and adding before Weiss could take it the wrong way, "Men forge their legacy with actions. A name is just a word to remember those by. Something my dad used to say... I think."

At that, Weiss let her jaw slack a bit with what eventually formed into a small smile of intrigue, "Well stated... My sister used to say something like that as well."

"Must be a busy family, then," Jaune noted before giving Weiss a final nod, "Anyway, take care... I, have to go somewhere right now. Ruby. Unnamed blonde girl. Nice jacket."

The blonde girl in question shrugged proudly before turning to him with a small smirk, "That just might be the first time a guy compliments something _other_ than my body... _Jaune_. Name's Yang. Yang Xiao Long."

He nodded in response, a ghost of a smile on his lips at the event of a girl offering him her name without any real reason to before feeling the need to round out the conversation with something he oddly enough felt was missing, "Okay, and for the record..."

Three expectant stares as he pointed at all of them with an idle wave of his finger.

"I'm a natural blonde, you know."

"..."

Yang was the first to snort in response, a smile across her features as she hiked a thumb over a shoulder, "You heard the princess from way over there?"

"Hey!"

"My bad. _Ice_ Princess."

Weiss grunted unceremoniously in a miffed gesture of petulance before jutting her hip out to the side and motioning in Jaune's general direction with a hand, "Well if you heard that, then I should probably add that you're not _that_ scraggly."

"Right," he noted with a humored raised brow before waving a final good bye at the girls, "Later."

Yang watched the blonde leave with vague curiosity before half-nodding her head to her sister, "I guess you're right, Rubes. He's not _that_ bad, after all."

Weiss shook her head beside them with a small smirk, the siblings unaware that it was a sign of agreement instead of the opposite.

'Cool-headed _and_ occasionally suave,' she noted internally, ' _Occasionally_. But, not bad at all...'

* * *

"Okay freaky brain thing, do your stuff," Jaune muttered to himself as he stepped out of the auditorium from the general area he'd seen the Headmaster exit. He had to admit, despite her unique character, Jaune was getting a feeling that Ruby was the type of person who had an excellent intuition when it came to being a judge of the character of others.

And the more he thought about it, the more Ozpin did seem aloof. Why? A Headmaster disconnected from his students didn't seem so far-fetched, but in this case...

"Maybe Ozpin was waiting for something, too?" Jaune asked himself in curiosity before he rounded a corner and froze in his tracks, nearly stumbling back at the sudden presence before him.

Either this was really _really_ bad luck, or...

"Hoh? Why would you say that?"

"M-Mister, I mean, _Headmaster_ Ozpin," Jaune stammered as he regained his bearings, the man simply standing there as if he were one of the many statues that lined the sides of the open walkway between marble columns while he idly took another sip of coffee.

"Mister Arc, I presume. A pleasure to finally meet you."

"You... know who I am?"

"No," the Headmaster noted flatly, the subsequent silence seemingly intensified by the crystal clear sound of the Professor's next sip and sigh of successful caffeine acceptance, "But I know your transcripts."

The next silence seemed doubly intense by the sound of Jaune's audible gulp echoing through the halls.

"Now now, nothing to fear," Ozpin continued just a fraction more lightly than before, "If I'd wanted, I'd have ensured that you never stepped foot on campus property. But as it stands... I believe you have something to say before I make my final decision."

"I-I do?"

"Yes. To my next and only question... depending on your answer."

Either the Headmaster's Semblance had something to do with sucking oxygen right out of the air, or Jaune was seriously beginning to find it much more difficult to breathe.

"Mister Arc. As you surely heard in the auditorium, Miss Goodwitch ensured her instructions were clear that every student find lodging in the ballroom for the night. Now, would you be able to tell me why you decided a stroll through the administrative wing - which is strictly off limits to students, might I add - was a more desirable option?"

Jaune had a strange feeling despite himself, his mind racing a million miles per hour through decent excuses or lies that might be able to buy him some time or save him some trouble. But the feeling wasn't fear of expulsion. Or even fear of very public humiliation, for that matter. It was that pervading feeling that he was a student in the middle of nothing more than a pop quiz. And Jaune had found his ace... the truth.

"To be quite honest, I'm not entirely sure... but I have a feeling it's because you told me to. Sir."

"A feeling? I do not recall asking a prospective student to go directly against the advice of arguably the most dangerous woman on Remnant. Care to expand on your thoughts about that 'feeling'?"

Jaune sighed as he decided to play his final card, "The same one that's telling me that _this_ hallway is for the lecture classrooms. Not the administrative wing."

"..."

"..."

"Interesting."

"S-Sir?"

Another brief pause, and a sip of coffee, before the man whose eyes had never broken contact with Jaune's from behind the small brown spectacles spoke again, "This wing of the school did not exist before this year. Professor Port - you'll meet him, a rather _engaging_ administrator at the facility - has a fond tradition of unleashing Grimm on unsuspecting first-year students. Last year, he decided to unleash a juvenile Goliath that got out of hand and destroyed a dated Dust depot we kept here before it was eventually neutralized. Needless to say, his class is to be reduced to lecture-only activities which will be held in the smaller lecture halls located in this new wing... something no student, past nor current, would know. Follow me."

Just like that, Jaune found himself following the Headmaster with a slack jaw through the hallways, his trust in his own questionably sane mind growing bit by bit every few minutes as the Professor silently took the blonde knight through breathtaking walkways and balconies of a school he knew he'd once attended. Or hadn't attended. Yet...

" _Guhhhh_ ," Jaune groaned at himself as his mind felt like it was trying to move backwards and forwards at the same time, his reaction catching the attention of the ever-observant man leading him around campus.

"Everything alright, Mister Arc?" Ozpin drawled without slowing or turning around, "I imagine anyone walking these halls for the first time would be rather taken aback by these views as well."

Trying to ignore the ticking pulse of the vein on his forehead as Jaune pinched the bridge of his nose in an effort to assay the oncoming migraine, he blurted out with limited inhibition, "Would you believe me if I said this _wasn't_ the first time I've seen these sights?"

Jaune didn't realize his slip up until he nearly collided with the woven wool back of Ozpin's suit since the man had suddenly come to a complete stop. Ozpin turned, giving the knight an unusually light-hearted expression of thought as he glanced upward in deliberation before fixing his glare right at the knight.

"Yes."

Ozpin turned and continued walking out from under the main archways into the outer courtyard at the front of the campus, once again leaving Jaune behind in his own morning brew of mixed emotions. Mostly confusion and an increasingly piqued hint of annoyance.

"Look, Headmaster. I know I did something really really dumb by faking my transcripts and by going against Glynda's direction on my first day as a fake student at that," Jaune panted out as he ran up to Ozpin's side at the center of the courtyard, the man making no motion to turn to face the knight, "But with all due respect, would you mind letting me know if you leading me around like this isn't an attempt to break the Guinness Remnant record of 'Longest Walk of Shame'?"

Raising a brow, Ozpin took a final sip from his mug before clearing his throat and turning to grant Jaune the first... or was it second?... show of genuine emotion he'd ever seen from the man: confusion.

"Wait. You faked those transcripts?"

At that moment, Jaune's extremities immediately fell limp as he suddenly felt like he'd just had his brain smashed out of one ear by a large golden brick of irony.

"Hm. Could've fooled me," was all the Headmaster stated before turning to face away from the knight once more, "Though I'm certain Glynda would've caught onto any discrepancy by tomorrow at the latest. I'd likely have made a wager on your behalf to dissuade her from looking into it any further."

"A... wager?"

"A _bet_ , Mister Arc. A very large bet. She'd have made a counter-offer, and I'd have tripled her ante just to show my resolve," he droned more to himself than anything with a ghost of a smirk barely turning up the corner of his lip, "She'd have ended up owing me _quite_ the sum of Lien for this one."

Jaune took a deep breath and gradually let it out, slowly lifting a hand to his head as if to verify the validity of the flashback he'd just received instead of the sudden onset of a debilitating brain fever.

"Actually... sir... I'm pretty sure you said that. Right before you died."

"...Oh dear," Ozpin noted flatly, his head flicking to the knight uncharacteristically as if the slow-building progress to the world's best punch line had just been shattered before looking down into his empty mug, "I think I'd need another pot to brew before delving into _that_ topic. How did-? No, I mustn't know. The mere knowledge could alter the course of history itself..."

Jaune was unnerved, yet strangely consoled, that such a calm and collected man was actually showing at least a crack in his usual composure at the possibility that had been wrecking his own mind for the past few hours. Still, Ozpin brought up a particularly important point...

"But Professor. _I'm_ here. I mean, I may not remember everything, and I don't know if I ever will, but with just what I already know... if this is even _possible_... then there's no telling what I might've _already_ changed with what I've done in the past few hours!"

"Indeed," Ozpin replied before closing his eyes and regaining his usual composure with a deep breath before glancing off to the side once more, "But for years... _years_... I've collected Remnant's best and finest into this Academy. And waited. Waited after every speech. Waited after every ceremony. Waited after every main event. Waiting, for this moment."

"Wha... why?" Jaune eked out, incredulity affecting his every feature as something he knew was well beyond his comprehension was being revealed, "You were waiting... for me?"

"Tell me, Mister Arc. Are you familiar with the game of chess?"

Jaune blinked a few times at the seemingly off-topic question, but noting the man's total concentration remaining fixed on whatever it was, decided to reply, "Yeah... I mean _yes_."

"Good... that is good. You see, in chess, you have a variety of pieces that move in different ways. You have the common pawn, the versatile rooks and bishops with reach and strategic value. And of course, the _Queen_... the most versatile of all the pieces, able to move in the quickest manner and inflict the greatest damage in terms of area."

"Yeah, I get it..."

"But of all the pieces, there is one that makes no sense to the others. A piece that seemingly breaks the rules of the game as it performs feats of movement and ingenuity that even the Queen cannot hope to match. Tell me... do you know of which piece I speak?"

Jaune shrugged a single shoulder, slowly nodding one before replying, "Sure. A knight."

"Precisely. It may seem a confusing piece at first, but in the hands of the right player... the knight is the strongest piece on the board, able to corner Queen and King alike in the most unexpected ways. Mister Arc, have you ever really looked at this thing?"

"Uh... Headmaster Ozpin... sir?" Jaune began, a cocked brow at the man he was beginning to think was finally losing it. But with no response from the placid old man as Ozpin seemed content with leaning forward on his cane, Jaune finally got the bright idea to follow the man's gaze. Slowly turning his head and then his whole body until he was standing practically shoulder to shoulder with the Headmaster, Jaune sighed in disappointment as he realized Ozpin had been staring at some random memorial this whole time.

"So... we're looking at an old war statue featuring my great-great-gramps. That's... enlightening...?"

"Still haven't figured it out, have you."

"Um, no?" Jaune guessed carefully, furrowing his brows in a brief attempt at thought before giving up, "Okay, what are we _really_ looking at?"

"Have you ever wondered... just how _alike_ you both look?"

The young man scoffed with amusement, half shaking and half nodding his head as he motioned at the man on the statue, "Well _yeah_ , I mean, we're related, right? That's not too surprising..."

"I do not refer to simply your features... look harder."

Jaune's amiable grin began to fade as he noticed the man still completely serious, the young man clearing his throat before raising both brows and mouthing a long _Ooo-kay_ , "Well, our stance is kinda similar. Our hoods, too. We both have the same weapon, of course. And, well..."

"Have you noticed the shoes?"

"The shoes?"

Sure enough, Jaune had to admit that the detail of the artist had even managed to catch the cloth-like vintage feel of those old Chucks in stone.

"It is said that the sculptor of this memorial bore an eye witness to the event, a man whose ability to take a mental image and translate it to stone renowned in all of Remnant. Don't you find it interesting, Mister Arc, that you so happen to be wearing the exact same brand of shoe as a man in an eighty-year-old sculpture?"

"Well, these babies are classics..."

"Shoes that were taken off the market?"

"Hey, nothing lasts forever, you kno-"

"More than fifty years ago?"

Jaune paused a bit, less out of the fact that he was out of comebacks than the fact that he was finally catching onto what Ozpin was getting at, "Sir... you can't possibly be saying that-"

"But the thing that vexes me the most. The thing I just have been unable to stop looking at this entire time," the spectacled man continued as he continued glaring into the statue, "Is that fabled sword. One-of-a-kind. Said to be indestructible."

"Well," Jaune noted with a measure of pride in the heirloom girded on his waist, "I guess it _is_ a pretty cool-"

"Knock-off."

"...ewhat."

"I did not stutter," Ozpin noted as he glanced between the shield and sword on the knight's hip and the one on the statue, reaching out his hand in a receiving gesture, "Your sword. Please."

With a glare that might've come off as defiant if it weren't accompanied by a dejected sigh, Jaune did as he was told and handed over the weapon to be verified. At this point, he wasn't even sure if what he held really was his grandfather's weapon for all he knew... it was like his memories were a puddle someone had tossed a pebble into, making ripples that reflected so many things that didn't make any sense and forced him to wait until the water became still.

"Interesting indeed," Ozpin noted calmly as he took out the sword and held it up by the hilt to line it up with the one on the statue, "There is no reason to believe that it is not the original Crocea Mors..."

"Then? The-"

"-Except this marking here."

Jaune leaned over to get a closer look as Ozpin set his cane down against his side and directed the boy's attention to a small rune-like marking on the blade itself just over the hilt, "It's just my family insignia. Three arcs."

"Look at the one in the statue."

Jaune squinted at the stony replica, raising a brow as he saw the only discrepancy in the likeness of these weapons, "It... only has one arc. So, the sculptor guy may have made a mistake?"

"That is rather debatable," Ozpin retorted before letting out a sigh in reason, "However, we are at the disadvantage of being able to get in touch with the original artist to gain further insight."

"Too bad the shield isn't on there. Would've made it way more obvious," Jaune shrugged in reply before adding in thought, "But then again... I did feel like something was a little off about it this morning. But I got a question. You'd never seen the sword, Professor... how'd you know they were different by the blade?"

"I didn't," the silver-haired man confessed before holding up the collapsed shield, "This, however, did. Look here... we know that Crocea Mors was fabled to be indestructible. But this insignia is much too polished for a nearly century-old weapon. It's almost as if it were newly forged. And reforging an indestructible metal is all but impossible."

"Well... like I said, something did feel off about it, too. Any idea why the same weapon would have different symbols eighty years apart?" Jaune asked as Ozpin handed him back the weapon and the young blonde expanded the shield to run his hand over it, "I get what you mean, I guess... but this material is supposed to be super rare. And these symbols feel like they've always been there even if they look new. Any idea why that is?"

The young knight looked up at the old man with a small sense of wonder, a deeply pensive expression along his wizened features striking Jaune with guesses as to the depth of cognizance within that man's mind before settling his gaze on the boy.

"I've no idea."

"..."

Jaune let a full five seconds of silence pass before running his hand through his hair in ill-disguised frustration, "Then... how'd you know _any_ of this would happen?"

"Well, _that_ ," Ozpin noted, lightly taking the cane by his side and leaning on it as was custom as he turned once more to face the statue in vague contemplation, "Call it an old man's final gamble. History books still only glance on the subject, but the existence of a Semblance with the ability to manipulate time itself has long been debated in academia around Remnant. Such an aura-user would likely come through a Hunter Academy at one point or another... so I resolved myself to make a failsafe, nothing too demanding, of waiting just a minute after any major interaction with students. Waiting to see that if one day, if such an Aura-user became known, I could give a final piece of advice should a tragedy beyond our means ever occur."

"Come find me when you wake up," Jaune slowly recited, drawing the glance and a dim smile from the Professor.

"Yes. Exactly. And this year, after seeing your transcripts, I _knew_. Though... not necessarily your transcripts. Rather, the cover image of yourself on top of the transcript page. But I knew. And here you are."

Jaune let out a short chuckle of incredulity at the idea before finally noting, "You know, for some reason, I don't really find it hard to believe you'd accept someone on a hunch. But... you know I'm not _him_ , right?"

At that, Ozpin completely turned to face the miffed teen pointing emphatically at the statue with a mildly amused smirk, "Oh? What makes you so sure? I presume you must be able to easily refute such a bizarre claim with a life account, perhaps? ...Tell me about yourself, Mister Arc. Where were you before coming to Beacon?"

"Hey, no fair putting me on the spot right now!" Jaune quipped with narrowed eyes at the Headmaster, roughly straightening out his armor as he gathered his thoughts, "If any of this is true and my Semblance works like you say it does, then I recently just _time-travelled_. Not exactly something you recover from with a simple 'good morning'... I still can't even remember where - or even _if_ \- everyone had their luggage packed on that Bullhead we arrived in today..."

"You don't remember."

"I ran away, okay!?" the young man shot back with a stronger tone of exasperation, lifting his arms out from his sides and letting them drop against his legs with a lame _clank_ , "At least, that's what I think I remember."

"A runaway from home... very well. Because I no longer trust the validity of your transcripts, can you tell me where you're from?"

A blank stare from Jaune as the blonde's eyes then began darting to and fro in search of a reply, "I... I uh... can't remember right now."

"Then let us try something else. What is the name of this Academy?"

"Beacon."

"...The kingdom we're in?"

"Vale."

"...Continent?"

"Vytal."

"...Name two more continents."

"Um... Mantle and Menagerie."

"...Need I ask you what planet you're on?"

Jaune deadpanned at the smug Professor before hedging, "Remnant. So, what was with the geography quiz?"

"You see, you seem to have no difficulty recalling general locations on Remnant. Knowledge which any educated citizen of a kingdom would have been instilled with since grade school. Logically, however, the _most_ important location for any grade school student is the location of their own _home_... a location you seem entirely incapable of surmising despite running away from it a few days ago at most."

"That doesn't prove anything!" Jaune retorted hotly, "If anything... maybe that I didn't put as much care in remembering my address. But even then, it doesn't prove I'm _him_."

"Him?"

"Yes."

"The man you called 'great-great grandfather'."

"Yes. Besides, location isn't the only way to prove anything. I know plenty of stuff about my family that'll _show_ I'm not him! Like... my dad, he was the second best Huntsman in all of Remnant in his prime!"

To Jaune's chagrin, the ghost of a smirk on Ozpin's face merely widened as the man replied, "Funny. So was _his_."

"Well... my mom was _the_ best Huntsman in all of Remnant in her prime!"

"So was _his_."

"Suuuuure. Well _I_ have seven sisters!"

"Hm. What are the odds."

Jaune went slack-jawed in disbelief, " _No_..."

"Yes. I heard they were beautiful. And rather prone to squabbling over him to have as a dance partner."

"Bu- wha? Okay well... I'm... I'm a _father!_ " Jaune practically shouted at the Headmaster, Ozpin doing little more than flicking off a drop of saliva which had landed on his left cheek.

"No you're not."

"You're right," Jaune huffed in dejection before giving the Headmaster who had turned a final time to face the statue a curious glance, "What."

"...Neither was _he_."

Once again, Jaune found himself spinning on his heel to face the statue with renewed vexation as his mind was sent reeling with the fact, "Wait. You mean he never even..."

"No. Julius Arc was barely seventeen at the start of the Great War. A common boy from an uncommon family who rose up in a time of need to destroy the main base of Remnant's oppressors and the droves upon droves of Grimm which inevitably followed... in what to this day is regarded as the most decisive string of battles in the Great War itself."

"Can't be me. That takes some serious ski-"

"Reportedly done without a single day of actual combat training."

"...Well, I'm sure he had-"

"Single-handedly."

"..."

Jaune turned to gape at the man before finally blurting out, " _Bullshi_ -"

 _ **TWACK**_

"Gah!" the young blonde yelped in pain as he suddenly felt his head knocked a full 90 degrees to one side, "Where did that even come from!?"

The only sign of movement the man made was a minute readjustment of his palm over the head of his cane before noting aloud, "There are a great many things I overlook here at this Academy. _Profanity_ , however, is one offense I shall never condone."

"Ack, fair enough. So this Julius guy wins a war without a single day in class. Wouldn't that make me a badas- I mean... really really _good_... at fighting?"

"Not exactly," Ozpin stated a bit more lightly than his previous statement, "Imagine a game you could reset whenever you didn't like how it was unfolding. You could start back at the beginning as many times as you wish, memorizing the enemy's every move and pattern as you advance to a perfect ending."

"Pfft... pretty much every Halo and first-person shooter game in a nutshell right there," Jaune joked with a smirk before giving the Headmaster a shrug, "I dunno, though. Plenty of people out there might call that cheating."

"Is there ever such thing as _cheating_ in war?" Ozpin noted somberly, his eyes drifting shut for a moment before opening them with a contemplative sigh, "When desperate enough, people will consider any action if it holds hope for survival. Remnant as we know it is a much better place because of the actions of this young man... a man, who mysteriously disappeared after the Great War without a trace. Many mourned his loss."

"You seem to know quite a bit about him," Jaune noted with a tinge of suspicion at the oddly well-aged man.

"Well, many had their speculations on how an untrained citizen could outmatch an elite army with nothing more than a sword and shield. Of course, Crocea Mors is no ordinary weapon, but this young man was clearly more than the sum of his parts. There's a wealth of information available after the Great War about how Julius Arc may have attained such skill in so little time, and how it may have been related to his disappearance. Many accused his parents of giving him unsanctioned Hunter training from the government, and others went so far as to insinuate he was working with the enemy the whole time. Ugh, _conspiracy theorists_..."

Jaune quirked a brow and glanced at Ozpin's scoffing gesture, the older man continuing with a subtle level of animosity in his voice, "Needlessly enigmatic. Gaudy woven suits. Eccentric crazy hair..."

The blonde merely looked the man beside him up and down, raising both brows and turning back to the statue.

"Riiight."

"In any case, I researched most of this after seeing your transcript cover image. Unfortunately, it seems this is the first time you've reset to this period, so information has been understandably scarce... I suppose with time we will discover how exactly your Semblance works... Julius."

Jaune huffed as the two men turned to face each other a final time, the sun already dropping low on the cliffside horizon behind them, "You're seriously gonna stick to that shpiel?"

"There was one more thing I thought you'd find particularly interesting," Ozpin noted with a tap of his cane, "Julius was a man of... _interesting_... ideas. A few vague sources cite him as one of the original advisors to the newly-formed councils after the war who postulated that names should be made after colors."

"Oh yeah. Everybody's name at least makes me think of a color," the knight concurred, wondering what color Ozpin's name might invoke to the imagination... if he ever decided to reveal it, "Anyway, what makes you think this is the first time I reset to today's date? I could've been here a hundred times already for all I know."

"You ask _far_ too many a question."

"...Oh."

"Indeed," Ozpin concurred, doing little to hide his amusement at Jaune's subtle peeved expression, "However, I had not finished about Julius' final act as war hero. To begin the naming trend which has continued to this day, Julius Arc had his color-picked nickname legally changed to be his real one. Hours before his disappearance, in fact."

The young man cocked his head to the side, curiosity coming to the fore as his attention sat fully with the Headmaster.

"What?"

A brief pause before the man let out a small warm smile at the knight, " _Jaune_."

"..."

"..."

"Alriiight, I'll go along with your theory," Jaune hedged as he shook his head at the man, "You're just as bad as the rest of the conspiracy dudes in my book."

"Rest assured, I take full offense at that remark," Ozpin warned with a soft glare before putting Jaune at ease with another placid smile, "But I believe that it is time to send you off to the ballroom with the remaining students, don't you? We wouldn't want anyone thinking that a first-year is getting special treatment."

"And the _last_ thing I need is someone digging around in my transcripts and scratching their head at why some kid has a name which supposedly disappeared eighty years ago," Jaune added, scratching the back of his head as he continued, "But I still have a couple questions. I mean... How'd that transcript get here if I didn't know what was goin on? And more importantly... I get it if I reset, but that doesn't explain how I seemed to go _forward_ most of a century without remembering my previous timeline. _Or_ aging a day."

"I believe those are questions that can only be answered with time as you regain knowledge of your Semblance, Mister Arc. Besides... you'd be surprised what true mastery over Aura can grant its users," Ozpin then stated, continuing before Jaune's raised brow translated into questions, "For future reference, in case you reset to this day a future time... try to do everything exactly as you did after regaining consciousness today. Memories or no, it'll be much easier to keep track of divergences in the timeline if you stay exactly with the timeline you've set _now_."

"Fair enough."

"With the exception of myself, of course," the Professor added smugly as Jaune sent him a flat glare, "Since I'm technically expecting you, feel free to shorten up your delivery next time. And... I'd recommend you never tell me of my demise again."

Thrown off by the request, Jaune only replied with a confused expression, "Huh?"

"I said it before, people will consider any action if it holds a hope for survival. If anyone died, you mustn't tell them, as doing so may only make matters worse when you need them most."

"What? No way! If people I know die, I have to do something to keep it from happening!" Jaune cried out in protest, Ozpin's only response being a sorrowful shake of his head.

"That would be impossible. Consider it. For you to have desired to return to the past, I fear it would have taken more than simply _my_ death to goad you into doing so. Otherwise, if it were only my life, or your life, offered in sacrifice for the greater good so that those you care about most could go on... tell me, would you truly wish to risk it with a redo?"

"Wha... well... no," Jaune reluctantly reasoned, his expression scrunching up in distaste but unable to make a retort as he was stopped by the Headmaster's upheld hand.

"Then you've already sealed the fates of all those you've lost before coming here. Your loss causes you go back and change the fates of those whose demise caused you to go back in the first place. Therein lies the paradox... time will always make it so that the flow of events remains the same. You may be able to save them from one fate, but they will merely perish in another."

" _Hey_ ," Jaune quickly stopped him through gritted teeth as he pointed at the Headmaster in warning, "I've done you the courtesy of putting faith in your theory, so do me a favor and put a little faith in mine: I don't care what it takes, but I'll punch logic in the _face_ if I have to if it means saving my friends!"

The two men stared at each other for a moment more as the golden-orange rays of sunlight crept through and across the column-filled courtyard, a small breeze ruffling the spectacled man's coat before he hummed to himself in thought.

"In contemplating your countenance, Mister Arc, I fear a part of you already knows the magnitude of your loss," Ozpin noted somberly, the weight of the knight's alternate future seeming to weigh on him as well for a moment before the man broke their gaze to look at the floor with a shake of his head, "However... if there's anyone whom I now believe could truly alter the course of history and fate itself... I'd place my lien on you."

Jaune's glare lingered a little longer as the man lifted his gaze to meet Jaune's with a small smile, the sunlight reflecting off the lenses for a moment before the young man finally let out a sigh and gave a nod with a small smirk.

"Nice to know we're in agreement," Jaune began before looking around and zeroing in on a nearby building, "Hey, not to impose, but there's a place in this school I used to - or haven't yet - like to go to think. The building's empty right now since I'm pretty sure it was the first-years dorm, so..."

A brief hum in thought preceded a rare single-shoulder shrug rom the man, "I suppose."

Jaune grinned at the implicit permission, eager to reacquaint himself with the place he'd come to know and already making to take his leave when he was stopped a final time by the teacher who strangely enough was looking into his empty coffee mug he'd had nearby. Somewhere.

"Nothing is more invigorating than knowing the world is as unstable as you are."

The knight's shoulders then went slack as he watched Ozpin casually chuck the mug over his shoulder and begin walking in the other direction as the ceramic crashed against the floor several feet away.

"Uhh... you gonna clean that?"

"Professor Peach will attend to it," was all the Headmaster stated without turning back as the distance between the two increased.

"Professor _Peach?_ I've never even _seen_ her, and I'm pretty sure not in any timeline I've been in, either! No way she's real!"

"Did you see where the mug landed?"

"Yeah..."

"Look again."

"...You gotta be kidding me, _no one's_ that- _uwah!?_ " Jaune cut himself off as he noticed where there was once a ceramic mess was now free of debris, the blonde glancing back and forth between the empty space and the distant Headmaster before whispering, " _creepy_..."

* * *

 _Aura is the manifestation of our soul. It bears our burdens and shields our hearts. Have you ever felt you were being watched without knowing that someone was there?_

'Huh? ...What is this? What is this place?'

Darkness. Darkness all around him. Couldn't move, couldn't speak... only a mass of whispers through the infinite abyss.

 _By baring your soul outwards as a force, you can deflect harm. All of our tools and equipment are conduits for Aura. You protect yourself and your soul when fighting._

'Wait... I, I know that voice...'

 _For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of glory and virtue to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death._

A new meaning of the words barely starting to sink in, the whispers began getting louder, beginning to clamor above each other to be heard first.

 _I'm Queen of the cast-le! I'm Queen of the cast-le!_

 _Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?_

 _My hero._

 _My back..._

'Waiiit...'

But the whispers didn't listen, slowly speeding up as if beginning to go on fast forward.

 _The four of you collected the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will be working together as team Juniper... led by, Jaune Arc!_

 _Gauging your Aura will help you decide when it's appropriate to attack, or when it is better to move to a more... defensive strategy. We wouldn't want you gobbled up by a Beowolf, now, would we?_

 _You're not allowed to be a failure... Because it's not just about you anymore. You've got a team now, Jaune. We both do! And if we fail, then we'll just be bringing them down with us. We have to put our teammates first, and ourselves second. Your team deserves a great leader, Jaune. And I think that can be you._

 _Don't ever mess with my team - my_ _ **friends**_ _\- ever again. Got it?_

'But, th-this hasn't happened to me! I'm... I'm...?'

 _Your swordplay's improved immensely!  
Hey, an Arc never goes back on his word. Now do you wanna stand there and laugh at me, or do you wanna dance?  
You're going on world-saving missions without us? I'm hurt... sad! Maybe a little hungry?  
We're changing our mission. Everyone on board!  
We've got a world-renowned fighter on our team, one's basically ninja, I can bench five of me, Jaune... we trained all year, our weapons are awesome, Glynda barely yells at us anymore, and uh... Jaune!  
WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A FIGHT!  
AND WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A CONVERSATION! WHAT DON'T YOU GET ABOUT __**THAT!?**_ _  
I think that he means that we're all in the middle of a fight.  
Just... hit them with the hammer.  
What's going on? There's been an explosion!  
The Fang, all security engage!  
There are too many! Retrea-_ _ **gerk!**_

From there, the whispers had become yells, the cries multiplying and increasing in volume until finally stopping abruptly to make way for a disturbing silence in the dark. The following thought overlapped with the identical whisper.

'How... how did it come to this?'  
 _How... how did it come to this?_

 _History is important, gentlemen! If you don't learn from it... Then you're destined to repeat it._

The final voice echoed through the dark before a surge of wind preceded a swirl of color, invading the space with fast-forwarded scenes of what could only be memory before the young man awoke with a long gasp for air.

"Wh-wh-wha..." was all Jaune could manage as he jolted up to a seated position before looking around and slowly standing. He was on the roof of the first-years' dorm, empty for now but sure to be filled by the end of the day.

"Must've fallen asleep up here on accident..."

Looking down, Jaune let out a small smirk as he realized this would be where his training would make him strong, would prepare him for what was to come.

And no... Jaune knew he couldn't remember every detail. No one would be able to memorize months of memories. But as he looked up at the bright, wide expanse of Beacon Academy under the rays of the rising sun, the shining symbol of humanity's survival glinting white through the morning breeze, Jaune knew.

This time, he'd get it right.

 _This_ time... he'd save them all.

* * *

 **A/N:** _Hi there,_ _ **TPS**_ _here! So, a weird Semblance? Yes. Weirder possibilities? Yes. For all the hubbub about Jaune having faked his transcripts to enter a friggin combat academy, and not only that, but to appear (and_ _ **win**_ _) on_ _ **worldwide**_ _TV as a team leader without a single person going, "HEY, SO THAT'S WHERE YOU RAN OFF TO, YOU LITTLE BRAT!" it naturally raises a few questions in my mind._

 _ **EDIT 1/29/2018:** _ And after two more Volumes and a 2 year hiatus, my above theory still actually stands.

In any case, for those of you who've realized my little messages pointed to my Fulcrum fic for an A/N detailing what I've been up to, nice detective work. Sometimes, after an absence like this, it's just not right to start over without a single word on what I've been up to, nor is it something people would care to read about anyway (mostly). Therefore, take this and my TBD messages - i.e. To Be Determined - as my long belated greeting to the community I've grown fond of from so long ago. As for the date... stay tuned :)

 _But whether it's your first time reading this or your tenth, please_ _ **Fave, Follow, and Review**_ _to show your support if you haven't already! As always, take care..._

 _ **And Happy Reading!**_

* * *

 _ **Live. Die. Repeat.**_

 _TPS (c) 2015, 2018_


	2. Initiation Day(s)

_**Initiation Day(s)**_

* * *

 _ **Cover Art:** drivorobotnik77 at DA_

* * *

"Gonna be late, gonna be late, gonna be late...!"

Skidding across the hallway floors to break right, Jaune narrowly missed crashing into some random sparring equipment by the end of the hall before gruffly straightening out his gear and entering the locker room.

He vaguely recalled the first time he'd been here. Ruby was there, Yang was there, and he was pretty sure that Weiss was there. He couldn't help but scoff at himself for thinking the term 'Snow Angel' would've been a suave pickup line the first time, but then again, it was his first day as a Hunter-in training. He was excited. Still, she was a gorgeous young woman... it was still a little fuzzy, but he recalled that even though he'd had a crush on her for a while, it just kinda tapered down to... well, not a crush. Point is, he didn't really feel the need to aggravate these people today with half-baked one-liners, so he'd just...

"I don't need people to help me grow up! I drink _milk_! ...Oh hey Jaune!"

Yelping in surprise, the knight jumped back as the two sister's eyed him with amusement. This... had _definitely_ not happened the first time.

"Heh, someone's a little _Jaun_ -py today..."

A cricket-chirping silence settled in before being broken by a snort-like chuckle from Jaune, immediately causing Ruby's eyes to go wide and begin shaking her head adamantly with the 'cut it out' hand-across-throat gesture. But it was too late.

"What? It was funny!"

Ruby let her hands drop in defeat with a deadpan before noting, "It was _horrible_. That's why no one laughs at her puns."

"Yeah well... one time I tried to make a pun about rubber bands," Jaune noted flatly with a shrug, "But it was a _stretch_."

"HAH!" Yang chortled aloud with a wide grin, her eyes alight at the joke, " _Finally_ , someone who understands the comedic _genius_ of the spoken word! I've decided - you and me are gonna get along just fine!"

Jaune might've noted that it was her occasional association during his time at Beacon that had gotten him to try out the occasional double entendre but wisely chose not to, instead noticing Ruby's increasingly nonplussed expression as she regarded her sister with admittedly adorable flushed red cheeks, "Yaaaang... _not cool_..."

"What, _you_ were the one against meeting new people just now~"

"Jaune's _different_ , he's not new!" Ruby retorted hotly, "He's Vomit Boy!"

The knight in question merely lifted his arms up in affront at the nickname, the crimsonette retracting with a small _eep_ of apology before Jaune heard what he was looking for around the corner of the lockers.

"Well... I was thinking maybe we could be on a team together."

"S'cuse me, ladies," Jaune noted softly as he lightly pushed between both surprised women in his effort to locate the sound of the voice, "I was actually just passing through. See you both at the cliffs."

"Cliffs?" Ruby echoed in question without receiving any reply.

Yang scoffed incredulously as he passed them by, glaring at Ruby as the brawler pointed at her fellow blonde, "Seriously? Brushed off right before I was gonna give him my number!"

Huffing in bemusement, Ruby merely mumbled some dark things about sabotaging a certain someone's shampoo bottle as the sisters peeked around the side to see Jaune approaching the two young women nearby.

"Well, that sounds-"

" _Pyrrha!_ "

The two young women turned to see the knight, Weiss cocking a brow at the young man who so familiarly stepped forward to the Mistrali celebrity as if they were long-time friends as the green-eyed woman herself gave him a tight-lipped smile in reply.

"Er... Hello...!" she replied unsurely at the young man who clearly knew her name... just like all the others. Weiss tried to step in to stop him, but he merely held out both hands to stop her before she could speak.

"Wait wait, I remember this," he noted in excitement, straining to recall the list from memory, "Graduated top of her class at Sanctum, won the Mistral Region Tournaments four years in a row - a new record, if I recall correctly - and on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box! _The_ Pyrrha Nikos!

Pyrrha, whose already plastered smile had begun wilting more and more with every achievement being counted off, only noted with some strain, "Yes... that's _me_... you got it..."

"Right! So, been hearing rumors about teams! I was thinking you and me would make a good one! What do you say?"

He had told Pyrrha that the first time, right? Yeah, he was pretty sure... they'd ended up in the same team after all!

"Well, as I was saying a moment ago, I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may..."

"Ah well, that's true," Jaune noted brightly, trying to play off his advantage of already knowing where said chips would fall with his confident smirk, "But you know, teams would have four students each and stuff, so I'd say our chances of ending up together are pretty good!"

"And if you end up with me instead?" Weiss interjected aloud, hands on her hips in an almost challenging pose to accompany her almost challenging question at the blonde. Though she would never admit it in a million years, she wasn't quite sure about how to feel towards someone who'd so easily brush past the opportunity of working with her during the initiation. Even if it _was_ for someone like Pyrrha Nikos.

This thought process was likely why her jaw literally dropped as Jaune merely remarked without even turning to look at her, "Trust me, we're not gonna."

"If... I'm not mistaken," Pyrrha noted, her mask of politeness almost beginning to strain at this evidently persistent fan, "It seems the process may be more left to chance than can be helped..."

"Well then Pyr, play your cards right and uh," Jaune then pantomimed a javelin thrower's arc with a wink, " _Shoot straight_ , and you'll end up on the winning team. Whaddaya say?"

 _'Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation. Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately.'_

In turning to face Glynda's voice coming over the intercom, Jaune completely missed Pyrrha's sigh of relief, and Weiss' seething glare burning into his head.

"Welp, see you girls later!" he noted brightly at the women as he made his way out, joined by Yang and Ruby who casually seemed to appear around the corner of the locker as if they weren't just eavesdropping on the whole thing... but for Jaune, they may as well have just bumped into each other on accident.

"Aiming a little high there, eh Lady-killer?" Yang noted before glancing at his waist and suggesting with a wink, "Must be pretty good with a sword to do that, am I right?~"

Just like Ruby, Jaune completely missed the double meaning before noting with a shrug, "Well, I may look like I haven't used it before, but don't let appearances fool ya. I once took on more people than you can count with it for several hours straight, barely broke a sweat. But that's secondhand knowledge mostly, cuz I honestly don't remember that day too well anymore..."

The three students now making their way outside towards the shuttle, Ruby spared Yang a curious glance as the brawler slowed her step noticeably at Jaune's words.

"Uh, you okay, Yang? You're heating up..."

"Uhhhh... uh-huh?"

Ruby decided that was clearly a lie. And decided not to ask.

* * *

Now, Glynda was indeed a dangerous woman.

Dangerous, but misunderstood. Sure, her Semblance was rather formidable, and the sight of her weapon of choice alone was enough to make a lesser man wince. But what made Glynda Goodwitch's reputation truly notorious was neither her brawn nor her disciplinary methods.

Glynda Goodwitch... was a _hawk_.

Able to catch what others couldn't, to discern motivation and intent through all the variables. As a matter of fact, one could literally just put a picture of Glynda Goodwitch under the dictionary definition of _Astute_ and all the scholars would agree. It was just how it was.

So when the wizened woman of green-eyed acuity zeroed in on the placid knight while every other student balked at Ozpin's initiation speech on the Beacon Cliffs, Jaune should've known that his serene smirk was already getting him on the wrong radar in a bad way.

"Are there any questions?" Ozpin now asked, satisfied with the congregation of groans and dejections his words had brought about before frowning a bit at the lack of hand raising, "Hmm, well that's a first. Very well, let the initiation... begin."

At that, the first student was launched into Emerald Forest, the rest of the teens dropping into ready position as Jaune gave Ruby a thumbs up.

"Good luck, Jaune," she whispered to him as more catapults were heard going off, "Maybe we'll end up on the same team?"

He shrugged before noting, "Eh well... I wouldn't get my hopes up on that, but I got a pretty good feeling you'll do just fine."

"There you go again with that," Ruby noted lightly, her silver eyes glinting as they narrowed at him over a playful smirk, "Guessed the cliffs before they got announced, and now sounding so sure I'll make it okay..."

"World's best guesser, remember?" Jaune stated with a winning smile, the crimsonette rolling her eyes at him and turning to see her sister put on some aviators to get launched, "I'd tell you good luck, but you won't be needing it!"

Ruby turned back to stick her tongue out at him before being launched off the platform, the knight watching her go before leisurely straightening up and engaging in a light oblique stretch.

"Mister Arc, you're dropping out of your launching stance?" Glynda asked with a neutral expression as the knight remained as the sole student, to which he gave a small shrug.

"Meh. I'll be fine," he replied calmly, giving her a light salute before being launched into the air. At that, the disciplinarian looked down at her tablet with a slight hint of surprise before glancing over at her superior who merely lifted his pinky off his own tablet to raise the mug he held in the same hand to his mouth.

"We wouldn't want him falling too far behind his peers, would we? Come now, Glynda, he's yet to become an official student... let him pass the entrance exam before you subject him to a formal interrogation."

"Hmpf," she huffed as she kept her head high and walked to the edge of the cliffs beside him, each Professor watching the knight flail through the air like a poorly-chucked starfish, "I don't care what his transcripts say. That Jaune fellow is not ready for this level of combat. I guess we'll find out soon enough."

 _meanwhile, in the air..._

For lack of better terms... Jaune was a happy camper.

He recalled being horrified the first time he had gone through this, but then again, he didn't know that he'd be miraculously pinned to a tree the first time, either. It was nice, now that he really got to think about it, how great soaring through the air could be. Heck, maybe the whole airsickness thing was just a mental thing, after all! Right, no need to feel nausea about these things when what should really be coursing through your body is the _thrill!_

"Yeah!" Jaune shouted as he continued flipping through the air aimlessly, spying a clearing in the trees approaching, "Ah, that's where Pyr and I found that Death Stalker! Man... I really wish we hadn't, but I guess I'll have to if I'm gonna keep things as close to the original timeline as I can!"

Indeed, the knight was very proud of himself. He'd already met Ruby and Yang, talked with Weiss, and even helped Pyrrha out by giving her a hint! Not too much, of course, but it sure felt when he was walking out that locker room that everything was right on track!

Which... started feeling strange... considering that he was surely to have been clipped by Milo by now...

"Uhh... that treeline is getting awfully close..." Jaune noted worriedly as his altitude began dropping considerably, "Any moment now, Pyr..."

It wasn't until he passed the canopy line that the confident knight realized that at some point in the past 24 hours, he had gone wrong. And it wasn't until he saw the giant tree trunk he has hurdling towards at near terminal velocity when he finally screamed for his life.

"AW, C'MON!"

 _ **THUNK**_

 _meanwhile, at the cliffs..._

"And for the first time in twelve years... Beacon has just had an initiation casualty," Glynda nodded somberly at her tablet, calling the attention of the Headmaster who looked at his deputy over his shoulder with a raised brow in question.

"Closer inspection of Mister Arc's transcripts may have been warranted after all, hm?" she noted pointedly before showing the screen and its gory contents to the silver-haired man whose jaw seemed to slacken at the unexpected news.

"...Oh dear."

"Is that... _water_ , in your mug?"

"Yes... yes it was," Ozpin replied somberly before slowly pouring it out on the cliffside grass, "I'll be sure to have arrangements made for the collection of Mister Arc's body upon return to the Academy... as well as the strongest brew of robusta beans we have stocked."

Glynda's eyes widened, knowing full well the Headmaster's request was the equivalent of a man in despair emptying an entire liquor cabinet in grief-stricken stupor, "You mean... the Death Wish coffee?"

"Yes, Glynda. The Death Wish coffee."

* * *

" _GAH!_ "

The young man immediately jolted upright, his eyes wide as he furiously struggled to fight down his body's hyperventilation upon waking. Standing up and taking a final deep breath to regain some semblance of composure, he-

"Wai- wai- wai- wai- wait..."

Jaune checked his limbs, his torso and his face, walking forwards until reaching the full-length mirror. His brows furrowed, his eyes narrowed, and his impending facepalm was heard around the entire area before he dragged his hand down his face in disbelief.

"I... I died. I actually, literally _died_ ," he quietly groaned at himself before a shift in the floor beneath him caused his nausea to act up. Turning but not falling completely, he could easily see where he was and when he'd gone back to, "Back to Day On- _bleh!_ "

Having a better idea of what he needed to do, he rounded a corner, spotted the sisters, and dashed to the aluminum bin located right behind them.

Memory was fuzzy... but less fuzzy, now. It'd only been a day. Just a day.

"Well, I guess the view isn't for everyone," a smug-sounding voice began from behind Jaune as he coughed out what was left in his system and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. But this time, he furtively pulled out a fraction of Crocea Mors from his sheath and counted.

One, two...

Three...

 _Four arcs..._

'Hm. A counter? Oh well, for now, I guess it's stick to Ozpin's plan of live, die, and repeat...'

" _Fine_. Hey, you holdin' up alright there, Vomit Boy?"

 _a few minutes later..._

"Awww, this blows! Where else am I gonna find a nice, quirky girl to talk to!?" Jaune shouted to no one in particular inside the auditorium just after Ruby ditched him upon the blonde girl's calling, his anger quickly evaporating as he then held a hand to his chin in thought, "Hm... yeah, that felt pretty believable. I think I might've actually managed a clean run on that one! Let's see... then I walked over here..."

The next few minutes of Jaune's retracing his steps went by fairly quickly, dodging the gum, repeating Ozpin's speech, and ambling over to the girls to repeat as best he could the kinda-previous day's conversation. His distraction in recalling was enough to emulate the distraction he'd felt the first time upon the discovery of his Semblance... and then again, it was much easier to emulate a conversation from a technical day before than from who knows how long before that.

"Right... Later," Jaune noted to the girls with a final wave, doing an internal fist pump at another decent run before making his way out of the auditorium, "Okay freaky brain thing, do your stuff."

Jaune took careful, counted steps, cursing at himself at missing an opportunity now that he thought of how awesome an idea counting the steps would be to gauge where Ozpin might be. It seemed numbers were much easier for him to remember after a reset...

"Maybe Ozpin was waiting for something, too?" Jaune droned loudly as if reciting from a script, but still hopped back in fright upon turning a corner and finding himself face to face with the intrigued Headmaster.

"Hoh? Why would you say that?"

"GAH, scared the Grimm outta me, Ozpin," Jaune stammered as he regained his bearings, the man simply standing there as if he were one of the many statues that lined the sides of the open walkway between marble columns while he idly took another sip of coffee with a raised brow.

"Mister Arc, I presume."

Jaune blinked, recalling there being less of a _lack_ of vague amusement the first time they met.

Ah, right. This technically _was_ the first time they were meeting.

" _Headmaster_... Ozpin... my apologies," Jaune stated with an overly polite awkward bow, secretly relieved to find a hint of an amused smirk curling the older man's lip as he rose back up, "I came here looking for you - I know, against Glynda's orders - but I have something to say. I know it'll sound crazy at first... but the more I speak, the more it'll start to make sense."

"Fairly dramatic for an introduction," Ozpin noted pensively before motioning at him with his mug, "Continue."

Jaune fumbled a bit with words, trying to condense about an hour or two's worth of walking and conversation in a few sentences, "Uh... Okay... first, this is a new wing, destroyed last year cuz a Professor, Port... yeah, Port... blew this place up with a Grimm. This'll be where his lecture classes are this year... You'll want to take me for a walk, not sure why, but when I say I've seen everything in this school before, you take me to that statue of my great-great-gramps in the courtyard... only to spend a ridiculous amount of time telling me about chess pieces and knights and convincing me that I'm not _Jaune_ Arc, but _Julius_ Arc, sent _into_ the future, _back_ to the past... and _back to the future!_ "

Another sip of coffe from arguably the best poker face on Remnant as Jaune quells his growing excitement enough to finish with a winning grin.

"And you know this... because _you_ spent all day researching Julius down to the Chucks we're wearing, because _you_ knew someone with my Semblance could exist," a final pause for dramatic effect as the knight then pointed at the Headmaster with flair, "... _And_ because YOU'RE the one who sent me back to find you!"

Another moment of silence permeated the air before the Headmaster took another sip of his brew and eyed the knight for a moment more.

"The sword?"

"Not a knock-off. The arcs are new... and I'm starting to think they're some kind of counter for my resets. The first time I was here there were three, now there are four... and sometimes, I can almost remember days when there were only two. You showed me that on the statue, Julius' blade only had one," Jaune paused to pull out Crocea Mors halfway, "But see? Four. It's a working theory..."

"And a good one at that, no doubt," Ozpin noted with a scrutinizing air about him as he gave Jaune a brief nod, "Your memories?"

"Um... can't always be sure. But I'm starting to think the more I reset, the better I get at remembering, weirdly enough. Maybe it's use, or maybe it's the length of time reset from, since last loop was about a day's time, but I'll figure it out. We're still trying to figure out how or if I can remember my _original_ timeline... if that's possible. But I remember more of the last reset than any before that."

"Very well... quite a bit learned from merely a second trip," the Headmaster replied with a - dare Jaune say - _impressed_ expression of a raised brow before his countenance slowly fell to reveal a more somber face than he'd seen the Headmaster's face make before, "So then... do you know why you came back?"

At that, Jaune sighed, his gaze suddenly finding the ground between them to be much more interesting.

'Don't tell him he dies, don't tell him he dies...'

"Uh... yeah. About that. Looks like my Semblance is a funny thing, you see, cuz it only activates, only sends me back... if _I_ die. So far, I've been sent back to early this afternoon, before we arrive to Beacon. No idea why it sends me to that moment, but that's something else I'm sure I'll figure out..."

"So. You lose your life tomorrow during initiation," Ozpin deduced calmly with a sip of his coffee, Jaune's glance coming back up to him in question which prompted his reply, "You stated that the last reset sent you back about a day's time. You found yourself trapped? Forced to give your life in the place of another knowing the nature of your Semblance?"

Jaune chuckled nervously at that, scratching the back of his head sheepishly with a small groan, "Ehhhh, not exactly. See, I kinda... sorta... failed the 'landing strategy' part."

A small surprised spurt of coffee into the coffee mug brought Jaune's gaze back up to the slightly taken aback Professor... and an embarrassed flush to the knight's cheeks.

"Yeah yeah... I know. Don't be surprised, it's something you can expect from a kid who faked his transcripts to get into Beacon," he noted before watching the man's reaction.

By this point, Jaune was able to easily discern the genuine emotion creeping over the Headmaster's face: confusion.

"Wait. You faked those transcripts?" Ozpin finally asked before clearing his throat of the drink left within, "Hm. Could've fooled me."

"Yeah well, I thought I'd kept to the original timeline closely enough, but I guess I went wrong somewhere... I was supposed to be helped by another student. I'm sure if I just change what I did, I-"

"I would strongly advise you didn't change anything," the Headmaster stated firmly, quickly calling to Jaune's mind his previous advice, "Trying to change your past is pointless compared to honing your _own_ skills for the future. Doing so will only waste resets when you can _train_ yourself to overcome the challenges ahead of you instead."

Jaune's face softened at the useful information as he pondered, 'So _that's_ what he meant the first time around...'

"But, how can I do that?" Jaune questioned, "If I reset, I'll just get sent back in my current body. Training won't really help much..."

"Oh, but it _will_ ," the silver-haired Professor noted with a small smirk, tapping the head of his own cane to his temple, "Your greatest ally will be your memory. Not just that of your mind... but of your body. True, your brawn will not translate over resets, but your _muscles_ are capable of memory just like your mind. Train your mind _and_ your body... and this I say truly, neither will forget."

"Huh," the knight huffed in thought, nodding his head in agreement, "Okay, that shouldn't be too hard! Mind if I use a place I used to know here to go think for a while? The building's empty right now since I'm pretty sure it was the first-years dorm, and there's still a couple things about my transcripts and my first timeline I'm trying to figure out, so..."

A brief hum in thought preceded a rare single-shoulder shrug rom the man, "I suppose."

Jaune grinned at the implicit permission, eager to reacquaint himself with the place he'd come to know and already making to take his leave when he recalled what Ozpin was about to do.

"Nothing is more invigorating than knowing the world is as unstable as you are."

Jaune couldn't help a smug smirk as he watched Ozpin casually chuck the mug over his shoulder and begin walking in the other direction as the ceramic crashed against the floor several feet away, calling out after him as the distance between them increased. He was gonna catch this mysterious Professor _this_ time...

"So uh... Professor Peach's gonna clean that?"

"She already did."

"...You gotta be _kidding_ me-" Jaune cut himself off as he noticed where there was once a ceramic mess was now free of debris, the blonde glancing back and forth between the empty space and the distant Headmaster before throwing his hands up in the air, "HOW!?"

 _the next day..._

Jaune stretched out after a long night of thought and rest, sure to drop by the lockers first to repeat the previous day's conversations as best as he could manage. He still felt like something he'd done the previous reset could be changed, but Ozpin was right... it'd only waste time trying to find out what he'd done wrong instead of actually figuring out a landing strategy.

The first student was launched into Emerald Forest, the rest of the teens dropping into ready position as Jaune gave Ruby a thumbs up.

"Good luck, Jaune," she whispered to him as more catapults were heard going off, "Maybe we'll end up on the same team?"

He shrugged, holding back a small smirk at how well he must've been repeating the action judging by his recollection of Ruby's same face the first time before noting, "Eh well... I wouldn't get my hopes up on that, but I got a pretty good feeling you'll do just fine."

"There you go again with that," Ruby noted lightly, her silver eyes glinting as they narrowed at him over a playful smirk, "Guessed the cliffs before they got announced, and now sounding so sure I'll make it okay..."

"World's best guesser, remember?" Jaune stated with a winning smile, the crimsonette rolling her eyes at him and turning to see her sister put on some aviators to get launched, "I'd tell you good luck, but you won't be needing it!"

Ruby turned back to stick her tongue out at him before being launched off the platform, the knight watching her go before dropping down to a ready pose with a determined grin on his face.

'Landing strategy... it can't be too hard!' the blonde thought with anticipation, readying himself mentally as he caught a strangely focused Glynda reaching towards the catapult control for his Launchpad on her tablet, 'I know where I land, I know who I have to meet...'

A rush of wind across the knight's face as he was launched and soared through the air for several seconds with a wide smile... and still slightly awkward form... before closing in on his target spot, 'All I gotta do is put my mind into it and-'

 _ **THUNK**_

 _meanwhile, at the cliffs..._

"And for the first time in twelve years... Beacon has just had an initiation casualty," Glynda nodded somberly at her tablet, calling the attention of the Headmaster who looked at his deputy over his shoulder with a raised brow in question.

"Closer inspection of Mister Arc's transcripts may have been warranted after all, hm?" she noted pointedly before showing the screen and its gory contents to the silver-haired man whose jaw seemed to slacken at the unexpected news.

"...Oh dear."

* * *

" _GAH!_ "

The young man immediately jolted upright, his eyes wide as he furiously struggled to fight down his body's hyperventilation upon waking. Standing up and taking a final deep breath to regain some semblance of composure, he quickly regained his bearings and walked to the full-length mirror only throw his arms up in frustration as he realized where he was.

"Aw, _c'mon! -blergh_..."

 _several minutes and awkward conversations later..._

" _Maybe_... Ozpin... was waiting for something, too?"

As if it were a lucky charm intoned to make a wild Headmaster appear in the hallway, Jaune still yelped in surprise as the Headmaster's question caught him off guard.

"Hoh? Why would you say that?"

'Hehe... _seventeen steps_...'

"Because _you_ were the one who sent me here, Headmaster Ozpin," Jaune began with more confidence as he unsheathed Crocea Mors, the man raising a brow as he listened with intrigue, "See this? _Five arcs_ , counting my resets and my times coming back here if our theories are anything to go by, and I'll prove it to you. This is the lecture hall wing, you researched me after seeing my transcript image, and you think I'm the Julius Arc who fought in the Great War... and maybe... maybe I'm starting to believe it, too..."

"I see," Ozpin noted flatly before taking a small sip of coffee, "Do you know why you came back."

"Yeah," Jaune replied carefully, surprised how easily the next words out of his mouth came out, "Apparently, I died. My Semblance activates only when I die, and sends me back to just before arriving at Beacon. Still figuring that bit out, along with how my transcripts got here in the first place and how I got to this era eighty years after I was born... but anyway, yeah, I die tomorrow during initiation cuz I fail the landing strategy bit."

A raised brow as Ozpin raised the mug to his mouth before Jaune explained, "Faked my transcripts."

 ** _PFFFFFT!_**

The knight grinned at the Headmaster's reaction and following remark, "Wait. You faked those transcripts?"

"Coulda fooled ya, huh?" Jaune noted with a smirk before adding, "But it was my mistake expecting another student to pick up my slack. If I'm gonna make any progress, I gotta figure out how to learn from every reset and memorize my strategy. It shouldn't take too many tries... Mind if I use a place I used to know here to go think for a while? The building's empty right now since I'm pretty sure it was the first-years dorm, so..."

"Hmm... I suppose."

"Great!" Jaune stated, waiting to see Ozpin slowly looking down at his mug.

"Nothing is more invigorating than knowing the world is as unstable as you are."

Casually chucking the mug over his shoulder and beginning to walk in the other direction as the ceramic crashed against the floor several feet away, Jaune stared at the mug to catch this mysterious Professor _this_ time...

"Mister Arc," Ozpin noted finally as he stopped in his step, getting the blonde's attention with a slight turn of his head, "Good luck."

"Thanks," Jaune began, stopping abruptly as he noticed where there was once a ceramic mess was now free of debris, the blonde glancing back and forth between the empty space and the distant Headmaster before throwing his hands up in the air, "AW, C'MON!"

 _the next day..._

"World's best guesser, remember?" Jaune stated with a winning smile, the crimsonette rolling her eyes at him and turning to see her sister put on some aviators to get launched, "I'd tell you good luck, but you won't be needing it!"

Ruby turned back to stick her tongue out at him before being launched off the platform, the knight watching her go before dropping down to a ready pose and being launched himself.

'Keep steady... keep steady,' Jaune internally commanded as he tried to keep his body rigid in the air. It felt much better than flailing around haplessly... but it wouldn't make eventually slamming headfirst into that same massive tree trunk from the beginning any less painful. Which was currently closing in faster than Jaune could control.

"AW, C'MON!"

 _ **THUNK**_

 _meanwhile, at the cliffs..._

"And for the first time in twelve years... Beacon has just had an initiation casualty," Glynda nodded somberly at her tablet, calling the attention of the Headmaster who looked at his deputy over his shoulder with a raised brow in question, "Closer inspection of Mister Arc's transcripts may have been warranted after all, hm?"

Ozpin glanced at the screen and the generous splatter of red across the lenses as his eyes widened slightly.

"...Oh dear."

* * *

" _GAH!_ "

The young man immediately jolted upright, his eyes wide as he furiously struggled to fight down his body's hyperventilation upon waking. Standing up and taking a final deep breath to regain some semblance of composure, he simply walked over to the mirror with a grimace, placed both arms against either side of it to lean forward and look into his own face, and grimaced.

" _Take three... blergh..._ "

 _several minutes later..._

"Maybe... Ozpin was waiting for something, too?" 'Fifteen... sixteen... _seventeen!_ '

"Hoh? Why would you say that?"

Jaune grinned, completely unfazed by the Headmaster's seemingly sudden entrance before taking a slow deep breath to begin speaking.

 _shorter conversation and night of recalling memories on paper later..._

"World's best guesser, remember? I'd tell you good luck, but you won't be needing it!"

A few seconds later, and the test flight began again.

'C'mon... c'mon,' Jaune hedged at himself, keeping enough stability to attempt reaching an arm out as he dropped under canopy level... just to have it dislocated as soon as it hit the first branch, 'AW, C'MON!'

 _ **THUNK**_

 _meanwhile, at the cliffs..._

"And for the first time in twelve years... Beacon has just had an initiation casualty... Closer inspection of Mister Arc's transcripts may have been warranted after all, hm?"

Ozpin glanced at the screen, his eyes widening at the mangled mess he was looking at.

"...Oh dear."

* * *

" _GAH!_ "

The young man immediately jolted upright, letting out a huff before stomping over to the mirror.

"Take _four! ...Blergh._ "

 _the next day..._

'Keep it steady, keep it steady,' Jaune told himself as he was airborne once more, still trying to keep his hair from getting in his eyes as he soared through the air and dropped under canopy level, 'Dodge that branch... _yes!_ Now to try a flip-'

 _ **THUNK**_

 _meanwhile, at the cliffs..._

"Closer inspection of Mister Arc's transcripts may have been warranted after all, hm?"

"...Oh dear."

* * *

" _Guhhhhh_..."

A small head-pound on the mirror before a low growl, "Take _twelve_..."

 _the next day after a night of recalling memories on a longer sheet of paper, at the cliffs..._

" _Hm?_ "

"...Oh dear."

* * *

"Take... thirty-seven," Jaune drawled as he looked at his reflection on the Bullhead mirror.

He then turned, sticking a finger down his throat to force him to gag and ready himself to vomit as he made his way into the Bullhead main room.

 _the next day after a night of recalling memories on a MUCH longer sheet of paper, at the cliffs..._

" _HM?_ "

Ozpin cocked a brow at his deputy glancing again at the screen, "Well... where is he?"

Glynda scoffed, shaking her head before lifing her finger to point out the knight's remains, "There... there... _there_..." a wide circle around a corner of the tablet screen, "And the rest scattered throughout _theeeeere_."

The Headmaster paled a bit, his eyes widening as he counted the pieces.

"...Oh dear."

* * *

"Take," Jaune paused, half-heartedly knocking the mirror with a sigh, " _Whatever_..."

 _the next day..._

"There you go again with that," Ruby noted lightly, her silver eyes glinting as they narrowed at him over a playful smirk, "Guessed the cliffs before they got announced, and now sounding so sure I'll make it okay..."

She then cocked her head a bit at the knight, noting something... off.

He seemed excitable enough the previous day, equal parts funny and awkward, and she honestly liked that quite a bit about him! But it seemed that after the not-so-successful mishap with Pyrrha and Weiss that morning, Jaune was starting to seem... different.

"Hey... you okay, Jaune?" she finally asked, sorta surprised how quickly the deadened look in his eyes disappeared as he snapped his gaze back at her, seemingly thrown off as if something had just gone wrong, "You look like you're about to go to a funeral or something..."

"...Heh, maybe I am," Jaune chuckled dryly, Ruby not being sure whether to take that as a joke or not as he scratched the back of his head with a shrug, "Meh. Guess I'm just used to the suspense by now."

"Wait. Used to it? How-"

"You've got about two seconds."

Ruby looked at the straight-faced boy in question, "Wha-?"

 ** _TWANG_**

Jaune watched the shouting crimsonette flung unceremoniously into the air, sighing as he watched her eventually right her position and continue her course before turning to cock a nearly indifferent brow at the Professors.

"You guys could've waited a bit."

"A Hunter must be focused on task, Mister Arc," Glynda droned as if reading the phrase off a classroom expectations poster, pushing up her glasses along the bridge of her nose before looking down at the tablet in her hand, "Ready your position."

"Yeah yeah yeah..."

 ** _TWANG_**

Now, one thing Jaune had never stopped enjoying... after the fourth or tenth time... was the initial rush of wind from being catapulted into the air, the blonde knight savoring the sensation with shut eyes and a faint smile as he soared gracefully through the air before reaching the apex of his flight. Opening his eyes, the faint smile was gone as Jaune's body went rigid and a single train of thought shot through his mind.

'Here goes. Canopy incoming, five seconds,' Jaune brought his knees to his chest as he took out Crocea Mors, cradling the sword behind its sheath as he expanded the shield, "Rebound off fourth right tree, third branch from top, sixth left tree, ninth branch from top-'

A pause in thought as Jaune did just so, twisting himself to place the shield between him and the first branch with only a wince of pain on his otherwise intensely concentrated features as he pushed off the wood with just enough force to turn himself around and rebound from the second tree.

'Flip off twelfth right tree trunk, dodge baby Nevermore, brace for foliage...'

Adjusting his flight path as sunlight became scarce under the brush, Jaune timed the release of his contracted legs just in time to get him to leap off another tree's trunk, using the momentum to flip and turn over an angry Nevermore that sped through the brush with the intent to tear him apart mid-flight before holding out his shield in front of him to take the brunt of the many whip-like smacks of the smaller branches he flew through.

'Now for the tricky part,' Jaune hedged internally as his descent velocity increased through the lighter foliage, 'Wait for it... _wait for it_...'

And just when the foliage ended, providing the knight with clear view of a catacomb of fallen tress forming bare logs that criss-crossed in front of him, he slung both sword and shield along his back and rebounded belly-up off a tree trunk underneath him before flipping and using the centripetal momentum to jump off another fallen trunk and give himself the needed vertical momentum to lean forward head before heels.

" _Sword!_ "

The shrill cry of metal being bared against wood was followed by jarring impact as the knight drew the sword and shifted his body to stab it just deep enough into a final trunk at just the right angle to slow his advance, forcing him to enter a spin as he gouged a long spiral around the same trunk until finally unable to maintain control. Freefalling the final dozen feet or so to the ground, Jaune emulated the best floor-tumble he could attempt before letting himself just roll flat on the floor several more times to kill off the last of his momentum.

Wide-eyed and panting heavily, Jaune slowly rolled on the ground a final time to face upwards through the tree canopy, letting Crocea Mors fall to his side and relishing in the ambient sounds of Emerald Forest along with the thunderous pounding of his own heart... before lifting both arms above his head with a yell at the top of his lungs.

" _YEEEEEEEEEESSSSSS!_ I, _JAUNE ARC_ , AM NOW _MASTER_ OF THE LANDING STRATEGY! AND WITH MY SWORD, _I_ , _JAUNE ARC_ , WILL BE THE STRONGEST UNDER HEAVEN AND ABOVE EARTH! _NO!_ THE STRONGEST ABOVE HEAVEN TOO! I AM THE BEAST, I AM JAUNE ARC, I AM-"

 ** _GRRRRRRRR..._**

The knight turned his head from his sprawled position on the forest floor, finally making out the twin heads of two fairly large Ursae before letting out a small whimper.

"...so dead."

 _meanwhile, at the cliffs..._

Glynda and Ozpin watched the scene unfolding from her tablet slack-jawed, thoroughly surprised that a student capable of such an intricate landing strategy would fail so _miserably_ against the first Grimm he encountered.

Ozpin swallowed the sorrowful lump in his throat before both Professors made eye contact and stated simultaneously, "Oh dear..."

Glynda nodded somberly before adding, "I'll brew the Death Wish coffee..."

* * *

'Aaaand, done.'

Jaune sighed as he made his way out of the auditorium, the _very_ well-rehearsed plastered smile on his face as he'd waved goodbye to the three girls in the auditorium instantly vanishing the moment he stepped through the door. Dragging his hand down his face with a silent groan, he wondered if that's what Pyrrha felt every time she was in public.

Yes, Jaune had figured out that Pyrrha's general countenance was little more than a mask after a few dozen resets... he knew because it had eventually become exactly what he was doing, too. Except... he still couldn't for the life of him figure out her reasons _why_.

Lightly shaking the thought out of his head, Jaune merely marched down the hallway, literally catching Ozpin, of all people, by surprise as he unsheathed Crocea Mors and drove its tip six inches into the marble floor about a foot in front of Ozpin's shoes.

" _This_... is not a knock-off," Jaune stated gruffly as he stood in front of the Headmaster with both hands on the hilt of his embedded sword like one of the Templars of old, "And _I_... am the 'knight' you've been looking for."

Ozpin's features remained neutral, scanning the youth before him with wizened eyes before finally noting, "So I see..."

But in glancing down to swirl his mug in contemplation, the Headmaster didn't think much of the young boy's odd reaction of growing a sort of mischievous smirk on his face as he raised his mug to his lips until it was too late.

"... _And_ I faked my transcripts."

 _ **PFFFFFFFFT!**_

Loudly clearing his throat, Ozpin leveled the knight with the heated glare of a Headmaster, further surprised that this youth took no mind to it and continued cackling in delight before wiping a tear out of his eye and pointing good-naturedly at the Professor.

"I am... _pfft_... _so_ sorry... it's just, that part's my favorite part, and you have _no_ idea how hard it is to time it!" Jaune explained with a grin as Ozpin drew a hanky from his coat and dabbed away any remaining coffee stains on his suit, "You see... too early, and you get a cough; too late, and you get a choke. But _just right?_ Oh Oum... _priceless_..."

"Very well," Ozpin noted, still a bit bemused at how well Jaune had played that antic, "I am certainly convinced of your claims."

"No no," Jaune corrected with a wave as he pulled out the sword and sheathed it with a hint of his initial mischievous smirk, "That wasn't for _you_. That's like... a high point in my loops..."

"Loops," Ozpin echoed, glancing at the intricate shield the knight now held, "I have a feeling there are many..."

"Yeah well, took me a while, but I figured it out," Jaune impishly stated as he idly held up his shield for Ozpin to observe, "There are four golden arcs to start off, one for each loop I go through; once you get to five, this black **V** you see here shows up at the bottom of the shield. From six to nine, the golden arcs turn black one by one, and once you get to ten, the **V** disappears and you're left with only the top arc - black... but now with a silver lining around it. You following me?"

Ozpin nodded, following the explanation as Jaune smirked at him.

"Good. Took me like twenty resets to figure out how to explain it in a way that makes any sense. Anyway," Jaune turned back to the shield with a quiet sigh, "Eleven, you keep the single arc with the silver lining, but the arc itself goes back to gold, and twelve through nineteen basically follow the same rules with the normal gold arcs and little **V** until you hit twenty... then you're left with _two_ black arcs, each with a silver lining. You can pick up the rest from there."

The Headmaster nodded, taking a look at the shield with renewed interest.

It bore four black arcs along with the **V** at the bottom, the top three of them with the silver lining.

"Thirty-nine."

A small, but wry, smile from the knight, "You got it."

It was simple enough for the Headmaster who easily memorized the system aside from one question...

"And, the golden star on the top corner?"

At that, Jaune's small smile slowly faded as he glanced down and pointed at the two-inch symbol emblazoned just inside the golden lining at the top left corner of the shield itself.

"Heh... _that_ guy right there? Yeah... got that one at fifty."

Ozpin's eyes widened, instantly putting together the updated count and understanding the odd juxtaposition of youthful and weary in the boy's features.

"That's right, sir," Jaune disclosed sullenly, that almost dead-eyed look befalling his gaze for a moment, "Eighty-nine resets. Almost _three months_ spent in this loop... and only _yesterday_ \- technically - do I manage to survive just the 'landing' part of initiation."

"That must've taken some veritable resolve," Ozpin now stated, drawing the young man out of his cloud of thought, "Not many would have been able to endure such a feat, Mister Arc. You must give yourself credit... if your claim is true, then you are the first citizen in the history of Remnant to complete the initial phase of a Hunting Academy Initiation Exam without a day of formal training."

"But it's _not enough!_ " Jaune barked, a scowl curling his upper lip as he exhaled sharply in frustration, "At this rate, I'll be older than _Beacon_ by the time I survive my first day of _school!_ "

"...Then what would you propose, Mister Arc?"

Jaune stiffened up a bit, not exactly expecting to be given the reins to something as complicated as Hunter training so easily, before finally pointing at the Headmaster, "I propose I get Hunter training, for real... from _you_."

An intense moment of silence between the two men before the silver-haired man broke the tension with a single-shoulder shrug.

"Okay."

"... _Okay?_ "

Another slight nod from the Headmaster before he repeated with a smirk, "Okay."

...And tossed his mug behind him to send it crashing on the floor behind a column.

Jaune watched the column as Ozpin began walking away for him to follow, smirking to himself when for the first time, in less than a span of the blink of an eye, he caught what looked like the peach-tipped frill of a kid-sized frock disappearing from around a nearby column.

"Heh... caught ya."

 _a few minutes later..._

"So this is gonna be it, huh? Where I start my training?" Jaune noted in wonder as he and Ozpin stood in the giant marvel of gears and clockwork that was Ozpin's penthouse office on the Beacon spire, the Headmaster himself looking out of the floor-to-ceiling windows, mugless, at the afternoon expanse of the campus below them.

"No."

"No?" Jaune asked, a brow raised in question only to see the man turn and pick up a few papers that had been on the corner of his desk since the moment they walked in.

"No," Ozpin repeated, picking up the stack, straightening it out with a few taps on the desk, and glancing back at the knight, "I needed to pick up this afternoon's itinerary as we prepare for tomorrow's initiation. As you know, these are very busy times for our staff."

"..."

Not minding the slack-jawed teen a few feet in front of him, the sudden sternness in Ozpin's voice was certainly enough to snap Jaune back to attention as he continued, "As for _you_ , Mister Arc, I give you your training regimen _now_ : _one-hundred_ push-ups, _one-hundred_ sit-ups, _one-hundred_ squats... and ten kilometers running every single day for every single loop you live."

"Wha- that... you just made that up!" Jaune shouted, balking at the insane idea.

"I did not," Ozpin replied primly with a small smirk, "As a youngling, it was the training I submitted myself to for three-hundred days consecutively as I learned to control my Aura. Be grateful I do not submit you to the diet plan I used as well."

Jaune sighed in frustration before asking, "How far is a kilometer, anyway?"

"About... two times around the entire Beacon campus."

Jaune deadpanned in reply, "No way that's just _one_ kilometer."

"Well," Ozpin noted, a hint of a mischievous smirk now appearing over the man's lip, "Figure it out."

The knight seethed at the Headmaster's astute path of vengeance, muttering under his breath, "Why, youuu..."

"Be sure to report to me at the end of the session, regardless of the loop. To get you started, I say we reconvene in," Ozpin raised both brows, casually counting the fingers on a hand before noting, "Ten resets."

" _Ten... resets?_ " Jaune echoed with a twitch in his eye.

"Goodbye, Mister Arc," Ozpin stated with what Jaune could swear was a hint of a teasing tone in his voice as the man walked out the ample office, "And do refrain from exercising in this office, you'll have ample room to run around the campus."

After the elevator doors closed behind the Headmaster, Jaune let a few more seconds pass as he took a long, deep breath... before drawing out his blade and stabbing himself in the chest.

* * *

 _ten resets later..._

"Ninety-nine resets... That must've taken some veritable resolve," Ozpin stated after having counted the arcs on the shield, "Not many would have been able to endure such a feat, Mister Arc. You then, are the first citizen in the history of Remnant to complete the initial phase of a Hunting Academy Initiation Exam without a day of formal training."

"No thanks to _you_ ," Jaune quipped sarcastically, "I'd barely call your little Training from Hell anywhere _near_ 'formal' in my book, either..."

The Headmaster gave Jaune a small smirk, the blonde rolling his eyes before adding, "I know... payback for the coffee stunt, I _get it_."

"Didn't stop you _this_ time," Ozpin hedged with an almost humorous petulance coming from a man of his stature as he dabbed at a coffee drop he missed which was already starting to stain his scarf, drawing out Jaune's grin at the memory.

"What can I say? I'm a slow learner. Anyway, I did the ten loops of training like you asked..."

"How did they go?" the man asked, getting a huff in reply.

"Died the first two times before I could reach the ground. Too sore to move quick enough. Made the landing every time after that... though I've yet to last more than ten seconds actually _on_ the ground..."

"But the regimen became easier every time, didn't it," Ozpin discerned.

"Yeah, which I kinda don't get, considering my body resets every time I go back, too. How'd it become easier?"

"I'd be disappointed in myself if I hadn't told you in a previous loop," Ozpin noted with some concern, "But your greatest ally is your memory. Not just that of your mind... but of your body. True, your brawn will not translate over resets, but your _muscles_ are capable of memory just like your mind. Train your mind _and_ your body... and this I say truly, neither will forget."

Jaune looked up, tapping his chin in thought for a moment before snapping his fingers, "Oh right! I think you said that one of the first times we met in a loop! Heh, I guess it must be true then, isn't it."

"Admirable memory."

"Another helpful piece of advice from you. Keeping the loops as identical as possible helps me keep track of any divergences pretty easy. It's all technically the same day, after all."

"Indeed," the Headmaster replied with a faint smile, an admittedly self-satisfied one, but a smile nonetheless.

Jaune then glanced as the Professor, shrugging in question, "So... now what?"

The faint smile grew just a fraction wider.

 _a minute or so later..._

"Nope, nope nope _nope_ ," Jaune repeated angrily as the student and the teacher stood in the giant marvel of gears and clockwork that was Ozpin's penthouse office on the Beacon spire, the Headmaster himself looking out of the floor-to-ceiling windows, mugless, at the afternoon expanse of the campus below them, "Last time we were here, you just said you were picking up some itinerary or something before giving me that ridiculous regimen!"

"Which you shall continue to do," the spectacled man added lightly as he turned and idly picked up and straightened the itinerary in question before reaching down to grab something behind his desk, "That... and..."

Jaune flinched as Ozpin suddenly threw something at him with an underhanded toss, the knight catching it awkwardly and realizing the _somethings_ that they were.

"Two rags and... a spray bottle of window cleaner fluid?"

"Yes," the Headmaster stated with a placid smile, "Your next assignment will be to wipe down the campus vista window from one end of this room to the other. You must be thorough - wipe _clockwise_ with the wet rag, _counter_ -clockwise for the dry one. Much like waxing a vehicle."

A narrow-eyed stare from Jaune, to which the man smugly pantomimed a waxing motion.

"Wipe on... wipe off..."

"How's that even supposed to help my training!?"

"It isn't," Ozpin informed, glancing at the huge window with mock-dejection, "I just happened to notice so many smudges have accumulated on the glass as I was looking over our cherished Academy..."

"Why, youuu..."

"Goodbye, Mister Arc," Ozpin stated with what Jaune could swear was a hint of a teasing tone in his voice as the man walked out the ample office, "And do refrain from taking your life in this office. I'd know that twitch in anyone's eye, and I'd rather not trouble Glynda with any coroner duties before initiation."

As the elevator doors closed behind the Headmaster, Jaune's jaw clenched as he realized Ozpin had likely known his intent to commit suicide ten resets ago... and had done _nothing_ to stop him. Turning around with his cleaning tools, Jaune completed the task at hand while muttering a repertoire of profanity which would certainly have made a sailor blush.

 _a squeaky clean mega-window later..._

" _Done_ ," Jaune growled, throwing both towels in front of the Headmaster's feet as they stood in the middle of the sparring arena, "I take it you called me here to begin some _actual_ training?"

"In terms of training? _Yes_ ," Ozpin began matter-of-factly, Jaune swelling in anticipation before he continued, "And _no_."

"Whaaaaa-?"

"Training you to learn _actual_ Hunter techniques would be a waste of time," the silver-haired man explained as he leisurely began to pace in front of Jaune like an actual Professor, surprisingly enough, "Therefore, our focus must then be to hone your _instincts_ in the field. Train you to sense the danger, _feel_ the killer intent... no matter from where... or _when_... it'll come."

 ** _THOK_**

" _GAH!_ THAT REALLY HURT!" Jaune cried out as he felt his head jolt forward after getting hit by something from behind... _hard_.

"To aid me in your training," Ozpin noted as he continued pacing, not even flinching at the attack happening feet away from him and Jaune catching sight of the object that had hit him, "I will ensure to have Glynda participate in our sessions for the remainder of the day."

Bending down to pick up the object, Jaune picked it up and showed it to the cool-headed Ozpin with a visible tick on his forehead, " _By beating me to death with a WRENCH?!_ "

"A _WREN_ -!" Jaune turned around to repeat at Miss Goodwitch as well, only to cut himself off as he saw the literal wall of home improvement tools stretching at least thirty feet in every direction around the deputy herself.

"The concept is simple," Ozpin concluded lightly, "If you can dodge a wrench... you can dodge a claw."

"..."

"Glynda, you may begin when ready."

Jaune was just about to consider suicide once more when Glynda paused the first fling of metal at Jaune through her riding crop's command halfway, "Hold. Ozpin, a word."

"Yes?"

Glynda walked towards the shivering blonde, the Headmaster making his way towards Jaune as well when Glynda pointed out the issue with her crop, "Here. Mister Arc's head has not been healed. Has he even unlocked his Aura?"

"Hmm... indeed he has," Ozpin replied curiously as he examined the open wound on the back of Jaune's head, the boy himself peeping out from between his fingers to see Ozpin glancing at him with a raised brow, "He has shown time after time the ability to use his Semblance. This is indeed... odd."

"Maybe... I'm just not cut out to take a hit?" Jaune suggested with a weak chuckle as he began to straighten out, but the glare he then received from the disciplinarian caused him to retract a bit once more.

"Mister Arc," she began sternly. "If you've unlocked your Semblance, surely you've manipulated your Aura in the past?"

"Can you remember a time where you successfully managed to do so?" Ozpin asked as well, less sternly than his colleague by far as he added a little more quietly, " _Any_ time?"

Jaune thought about it for a moment, a flash of... something... going through his mind.

"Well, there was this time I used my Aura... I was protecting my tea- er, my _friends_..."

Though the slip of words didn't go missed, Ozpin merely shrugged at Glynda, who seemed just fine with taking the reins from there.

"Then we have a possible case of Aural _impotence_ ," Glynda stated, the last word causing Jaune to cringe by the way she said it, "You cannot control your Aura, or at least fail to control it, because it controls YOU."

The last word wasn't as much a shout as it was unnaturally augmented by the crack of her riding crop in her other hand, startling the poor knight as she then seemed to lean forward to look down on him despite them being of similar height.

"No future Hunter going through _this_ Academy shall be permitted to frolic among the students without adequate Aural control... Oum _knows_ you children have enough bodily functions to keep control of already..."

Jaune gulped, already liking Ozpin's terrible training methods much more compared to those of this woman's...

" _Control_ , Mister Arc!" Glynda stated with a voice that naturally echoed and rose in volume in the amphitheater as she too began to pace in front of Jaune in a seemingly much more aggressive way, "Control can define you, while the lack thereof can derail you. Remember that. Ozpin may tell me that you're in possession of a formidable Semblance, but without the ability to muster at least of _drop_ of Aura when necessary, then I have no choice..."

She raised her riding crop arm, Jaune fearing the worst as he shut his eyes upon seeing an object entering his field of vision.

"...But to teach you the value of _purpose_."

Maybe it was partly due to the lack of bodily harm caused by physical trauma at lethal speeds, but it was mostly due to the unexpected softness in the deputy's voice that caused Jaune to open his eyes. When he did, he was surprised to see his unsheathed Crocea Mors floating inches in front of him, the knight taking the sword out of the air as Glynda continued.

"Protecting those you care about is a noble... and _potent_ , call to action," she stated firmly, but with a warmer tone than previously, "I may even venture a guess that your Semblance manifested under similar circumstances... so, as our training unfolds, I ask of you one thing. Remember this. Remember your _purpose_. And your Aura _will_ respond when you beckon for it, for you will no longer be a child of whims..."

She looked up, causing the knight to jump again as she cracked her crop on his upheld sword like a drill sergeant, "You'll be a man of _direction!_ "

"Excellent, he is intimidated enough to begin," Ozpin noted happily as Glynda stepped back, Jaune's knees threatening to start shaking as she manipulated the wall of metallic tools to stretch and surround them all like a dome of fear.

"Aw c'mon, how am I supposed to-" _**THOK** _ " _Gah!_ " _**THWAK** _ " _Nyah!_ " _**THUNK** _ " _Dugh_ , my leg!"

Glynda merely stared incredulously at the knight who was on the floor on all fours after dodging all but three of three wrenches, Ozpin pinching the bridge of his nose before instructing his surprised colleague, "Again."

"But sir, I-"

"A- _gain_."

The disciplinarian complied, raising her crop hand to telekinetically set several more projectiles in position as Jaune struggled back up to standing position.

" _Jaune_ ," Ozpin stated abruptly, the powerful echo around the amphitheater carrying the man's voice snapping the boy to attention as the Headmaster opened his eyes with more ferocity in them that he'd ever seen, "The kingdom's under _siege_. People, are _dying!_ You watch your friends fight valiantly, but watch as they fall, one by one, to an enemy you very well know they cannot hope to beat!"

Jaune felt his eyes watering already, thoughts from his original timeline beginning to flood in clearer than ever before as he began to practically hear the cries of agony surrounding him.

"These enemies you cannot understand, you _feel_ the _fear_ they stab inside of you. It confuses you. _Paralyzes_ you! ...But courage is not the absence of fear!"

Jaune's gaze snaps up to the Headmaster with a fiery blue flicker of their own, a familiar warmth and glow beginning to build around his body as the Headmaster continues.

" _Courage, Jaune!_ Courage is the _presence_ of fear! Forged into unbridled power through an indomitable will and a determined soul! Your soul gives you _power_ , your will gives you _drive!_ " Ozpin continued heatedly, subtly raising his arm beside the wide-eyed disciplinarian as she watched the young man beginning to glow a brilliant white, "Remember that as long as you possess the will to protect those you cherish, _no construct on heaven nor Remnant will break your resolve!_ "

The Headmaster then tapped Glynda on the arm, cueing her to drive her arm forward and send a salvo of heavy tools at the glowing knight as Ozpin called out again.

"Squat, sprint, push-up!"

Jaune ducked under the first wave of wrenches, breaking right and outrunning the steady flow of projectiles with unnatural speed before dropping down with his chest inches from the floor to evade a surprise volley of tools from behind.

"Sit-up, squat, sit-up!"

Flipping around to plant both palms on the floor, Jaune did a reverse somersault right on time to avoid a hail of falling metal from above, planting his feet down in a squat before rolling forward with explosive power to place himself away from the main thrum of levitating pseudo-weapons.

" _Squat, jump, sit-up!_ "

Widening his eyes at the combination for just a second, Jaune unwittingly pooled Aura into his legs, squatting down before launching himself dozens of feet upwards with a yell. Satisfied at watching a bead of sweat rolling down Glynda's forehead as she tried to keep up with the knight and hit him with the massive amount of projectiles, Ozpin turned back up to watch Jaune eye the cloud of tools heading towards him and tuck his legs under him like a sit-up in midair to give him the spinning momentum necessary to orient himself just right.

"aaaaaaa-NYAH!"

 _ **PONNNG**_

And like a bell going off right between the ears, each Professor winced as Jaune impossibly thrust both fists downwards to deflect every single wrench flying towards him...

With a large, white force field.

Both Hunters were speechless in that moment, but thankfully, Jaune was the one to break the silence.

"Yahhhhhh... OOF!"

Glynda then blinked at the smoking frame of the knight who landed unceremoniously in a heap right in front of them, then turning up to see her colleage doing something she hadn't quite seen him do for many, many years... _grinning_.

"I believe he _may_ yet have some promise," Ozpin declared with a new light in his eyes, making to move forward to the knight, "And to think he entered Beacon with faked transcripts~"

Leaving her behind as he helped Jaune up, both men couldn't help cringe a bit at Glynda's shrill cry behind them.

"He _WHAT?_ "

"Let this be a lesson learned," the Headmaster stated softly as he knelt down and patted the knight on the back, "Human beings are strong... because we have the ability to change _ourselves_."

"Yeah. Guess you were right, maybe everything _does_ happen for a reason," Jaune agreed as he looked up at the man with a weak smile, "Consider the lesson learned."

"Good," he replied, Jaune now immediately not liking the mischievous smile coming from the man's face, "Since you were so eager to receive my training, then you'll greatly enjoy my next lesson: _Hell hath no wrath like a woman's scorn._ "

Supporting the blonde as they each stood up, Ozpin called back to the fuming disciplinarian, "I do apologize Glynda, but it seems it may have slipped my mind that Mister Arc's Semblance involves some form of post-mortem time travel. So by all means, refrain from holding back, as he seems to have countered your initial attack so easily and death is apparently no stranger to him."

Jaune gaped at the once-helpful maniac as he stepped back to Glynda's side giving the knight a shameless smirk and a thumbs up, the woman's ire literally glowing through her weapon as the waves of wrenches levitated once more.

"With... _pleasure_."

"..."

" _AW, C'MON!_ "

* * *

 **A/N:** _And there you have it, chapter **deuce!** Definitely a fun write, though I've never had to write so many time skips into one cheaper before... I'd probably not even have to try another death montage once I continue now that Jaune is getting the hang of things. Speaking of continuing, yes, I plan on making **Live, Die, Repeat** my back up fic to **TGG** to serve as some drama detox. There's much to go in this story until now, like training, initiation, and the one member of team RWBY who's been practically completely glanced over to this point! Oh noes! Don't worry, it don't mean she won't be barred from getting shipped with Jaune. In regards to pairings in general, it hasn't been decided yet for this story. I actually have a **poll** up on my profile listing all the **Jaune ships** , and even though I intend to leave that poll up indefinitely, I'm going to be using it as an official pairing decider for this storyline!_

 _And **Neo** has the early lead... Just think about it, what happens when a teleporter is pitted against a guy who can practically save-spam her? Hehe, maybe this'll end up as my first crackpairing fic since my Ren/Yang one!_

 _On a final note, Jaune's Semblance may look great right now (and he gets the force field on top of that? Booo.), but everything good has a bad effect to it. He just doesn't know it yet. Truth is, I'm still considering all my options between ending this as a comedy or a tragedy. But meh, we will see. Until then, feel free to **Fave, Follow and Review** to show your support! Take care..._

 _ **And Happy Reading!**_

* * *

 _ **Live. Die. Repeat.**_

 _TPS (c) 2015, 2018_


	3. In Case Of Emergency

_**In Case Of Emergency**_

* * *

Jaune had to admit... of all the adjectives he could use, the only one that seemed to describe in any remotely accurate way his current overall state would be _strange_.

He mentally noted how strange his choice of the word _strange_ was at the moment, considering that _strange_ entailed the general sensation that he'd been flayed, flogged, and many other words that start with an _f_ , before having his entire body mashed through a meat grinder and beat to a pulp. Needless to say, it wouldn't be too far-fetched to say that he and the sparring arena floor were currently one.

As drops of sweat and drool mixed where his face was currently planted in the cracked cement, Jaune couldn't help wincing with each click of the high heels that were now approaching him.

"Now _that_ should teach you not to waste energy so soon with flamboyant bursts of Aura, Mister Arc," Miss Goodwitch concluded sternly, causing the young man to cringe as one of her heels came down inches from his face, her pace not slowing in the least as she continued forwards and out of the amphitheater, " _As well as committing fraud with academic records_."

Jaune could only manage a pitiful cracked groan from his current position long after she was out of earshot, unable to move as the Headmaster calmly approached his side and lowered himself near his head. From what minute angle Jaune could turn his line of sight upwards to meet the man's gaze, he could only see Ozpin letting out a controlled sigh, subconsciously nodding at himself as if acknowledging the darkest side of humanity present in each and every person.

"You know, Mister Arc... to your credit, I can truly say that I've _never,_ in all my days, seen someone so broken without actually _dying_ first." The Headmaster may have added more if it wasn't for the young knight's weakened muttering that caught his attention, "Pardon?"

"Sa... Sad..."

"You are... depressed? I would not blame you, you've-"

"Sad... ist..." Jaune eked out, finally able to lift his head off the floor by a fraction of an inch.

"Ah."

Offering the young blonde his blade, which had been lost at one point or another under the rubble of stone and unavoidable emasculation, Jaune weakly took it before slowly... _slowly_... managing to use it as a crutch to begin getting himself upright.

Five minutes later, after finally managing to stand after cracking every major group of joints in his body in the process, the knight sheathed his sword with a sigh.

"It also seems that Glynda may have been testing your body's ability to heal. It appears that your considerable Aura reserves also grant you above-average physical regeneration, even for Hunter-level standards."

A silent glare from the blonde.

"...Though, I would not blame you for your earlier observation as well."

"No kidding," Jaune grumbled, his voice unexpectedly deep after speaking up. He considered it as a possible side-effect of having his body bent and folded up in ways he previously hadn't thought possible... and that probably _weren't_ supposed to be possible... "I never thought someone could actually smirk while inflicting that kind of damage on another person."

"Well, you did hit a soft spot."

"I'm thinking more... badly-disguised trigger for some terrible, _terrible_ type of psychosis."

"My my," Ozpin idly noted with a raised brow, "I wonder if you'd been so prone to mouthing off about a Professor during your early loops."

"Please, I've died more times than the years she's lived," Jaune noted flatly, still sporting a slight limp as both men began making their way out the auditorium.

"Clearly, the evidence shows," the elder man noted, Jaune's glance skirting to the side to see the man's subtle sense of sarcasm in action through Ozpin's pointed glare at the boy's leg, "Will you be needing the assistance of my cane during initiation tomorrow? I would hate to trouble a man of _your_ experience with-"

"Okay, okay, I get it," Jaune interrupted with a wince at his previous attitude, " _Don't_ let my Semblance get to my head. Lesson number five, officially learned."

Ozpin's brow rose with genuine curiosity, "Five?"

" _Yeah_. Right after - don't screw around with paperwork, and _always_ wear an athlete's cup around Goodwitch."

"Hm. Well stated."

"Uh huh," the young man droned non-committedly as the pair rounded the corner of another small groups of building on campus, "I just hope I never have to loop through that again. I'm not sure what's worse, two Ursae eating me alive... or Goodwitch's riding crop."

"Certainly a debatable matter. But play your hand correctly, young man, and tomorrow may be your _last_ first day at this academy."

Ozpin paused, looking over his shoulder at the prospective student who'd paused mid-step until Jaune finally nodded at him with a slow exhale and a small smile.

"Yeah... yeah it might."

The genuine reaction from the boy brought a smirk to the man's lips, but Ozpin didn't continue walking forwards as he noticed Jaune then looking up towards the building they were walking next to. He immediately recognized it as the currently unoccupied first-years dorm.

"Do you recognize this building, Mister Arc?"

Jaune nodded before looking back at the Headmaster, "Yep. Lots of memories and other stuff that hasn't happened yet here. I was actually gonna ask if it would be okay for me to stay here and think for a bit, if that's alright."

"I suppose," Ozpin idly noted with a rare single shoulder shrug before adding unexpectedly, "However... with curfew approaching..."

Jaune's face paled a bit at the unbidden mental image of getting caught committing another infraction before the first day of school.

"Glynda?"

"...Glynda."

Ozpin didn't need to say it twice, Jaune letting out an involuntary whimper knowing that he was already on the disciplinarian's radar in a bad way before letting out a groan in defeat, "Alriiiight. Ballroom it is, then."

"Good man," Ozpin encouraged with a small smile before catching the boy's attention with how the smile morphed into a teasing smirk, "Though being released into a hall of hormonal youths with a fearsome aptitude for all manner of questionable proclivities may pose a threat in its own right."

"Mehhhhh," Jaune began as he passed the Professor and walked towards the ballroom with an idle wave, "If it's one thing I've leaned from three months of facing cruel and unusual threats face to face, it's this..."

Jaune paused, turning to give Ozpin a winning grin and a thumbs up.

"...Whatever kills me, only makes me wiser."

* * *

Occasionally, Jaune did have vague recollections of his original timeline at Beacon.

They were few and far between, mostly because he had been so bent on memorizing every detail of his first day at Beacon and repeating his actions to stick to the timeline, but also because so much had happened since initiation day that by the end of the first time around, Jaune's life had really begun to change.

And then he'd gone and died, only to get stuck in a literal time loop to replay the same day literally a hundred times. Well, _almost_ a hundred... ninety-nine was pretty close, after all.

At least, that's what the markings on his sheath as he walked into the large auditorium currently told him.

So since then, recollection of events from his original timeline had been relegated to an occasional pastime, mere attempts during his afternoon after meeting with Ozpin to piece together what once was. Or might've been. Or could be...

Needless to say, Jaune had ended up with a decent migraine in his fair share of loops because of it. But with time, he realized that memories were like a ripple on water... forcing things only seemed to blur them even more. Only when he was truly calm could he gain any semblance of clarity. And around the seventieth try, Jaune found just the trick.

Dreams.

They were murky at first, his attempts to focus on the incoherent scenes often ending in late-night waking on the dorm rooftop, but became clearer with time. At this point, they were more like still-frames, accompanied by the occasional echo of voices to accompany them. It wasn't much, but Jaune was proud of it... it was progress, enough to to fill in a few blanks he thought he'd forgotten.

But the pointless sausage-fest going on right now on one side of the ballroom where shirtless guys tried showing off to the mildly indifferent young women on the other?

Jaune scoffed; no wonder he'd subconsciously settled with forgetting his first night at school. But on the bright side, he'd found his luggage in coming to the auditorium - turns out all the luggage had been kept there to give to their respective owners upon arrival after the orientation. Figures.

But unsatisfied with the blue onesie he was sure he'd once found endearing along with the three pairs of jeans and black hoodies he'd packed, Jaune settled with entering the room as-is and silently crossing the floors to find a little nook by the wall. Sliding down to a seated position against said wall, Jaune settled his single bag of luggage beside him and placed his armor inside before pulling out his blanket - not a sleeping bag, just a blanket.

Jaune cursed his lack of foresight, chuckling at the irony of receiving a Semblance that was all about foresight before settling in and glancing around the room.

"Eesh. Was I really that tacky at one point?" he asked himself as some random guy with a dumb green-ish mohawk and ridiculous green-ish tracksuit tried to wave at a pair of girls whom he suddenly realized were Yang and Ruby, "Seriously, who wears that kind of thing to sleep!?"

The young man groaned, deciding to close his eyes and block out the rest of the future student body - Oum help them all - until falling asleep in his admission of taking a sudden liking to solace. At least, he might've fallen asleep if it weren't for...

"You're different."

Jaune resisted the urge to complain at the passive interruption of his developing sleep-cycle, cracking an eye open and looking to his side to see an oddly familiar black bow about a dozen feet down the same wall.

Blinking both eyes open a few times in surprise, he silently turned his head to face her, his arms still draped over his knees which had been propped up towards his chest and under his blanket up till now. Unsure whether or not she'd actually spoken, Jaune watched the girl in the grey yukata as she gave no other indication of acknowledging him, simply engrossed in her own book.

"Um... did you say something?"

No answer as the girl simply turned a page in her book to continue reading. Jaune chuckled at himself; he was pretty sure that the two had never so much as traded a single syllable during his initial timeline, and that wasn't likely to change now. So, the tired blonde settled with turning his head forward again, getting cozy in his blanket, and letting his eyelids drop to-

"I said... You're different."

This time, Jaune snapped his head to find the amber-eyed girl's head turned a fraction towards him, her gaze seeming to be on the top corner of her book nearest to him but clearly not reading. It was his best guess, but she was simply eyeing him from her peripherals without making eye contact.

And Jaune thought _Ruby_ was an awkward conversation starter...

"Well uh, thanks? Not sure how you can tell that by just looking at a guy trying to get some shut-eye, but that's cool... I guess..."

"Pretty easily. You're rather indifferent considering the masses of wannabe god-slayers in this room, neither trying to prove anything nor pretending to be anything but afraid about tomorrow," the book casually cradled in her lap sank about an inch before she turned to look at him for the first time with a neutral expression, "Couldn't help but notice."

Another blink from the knight before he settled with a small shrug.

"You don't seem too different yourself. After all, it's just an initiation. Worse things could happen... and even if anyone were to pass it with flying colors, it's nothing compared to _living_ the fight every single day."

"Just an initiation?" she echoed with a faintly raised brow, her attention very gradually coalescing in his direction, "Almost sounds condescending when you put it that way."

Jaune barely managed to avoid rolling his eyes at that, "Well... it's just a school. It's what we _learn_ here that counts. So as a guy who may or may not even manage to pass initiation tomorrow to become just another first-year, I don't really see a reason to brag about it."

He gave her a tight-lipped smile, a wry truth being stated that he knew only he'd understand before he turned his gaze forward and leaned the back of his head on the wall.

"For what it's worth, you sound like someone who knows himself well enough to pass."

The knight rolled his head a bit, too tired and lazy to bother picking it up off the wall as he glanced at her before she could return to her book, "For what it's worth, you look like someone who won't have a problem with it at all."

A ghost of a smirk on the corner of her lip.

" _Now_ who's trying to gauge another person by their looks?"

"Meh. You started it."

"..."

"..."

"By the way, I'm Blake."

 _Well_... Jaune unwittingly lifted his head off the wall as he sent a subtly incredulous glance at the young woman, which she may or may not have mistaken for rising interest on his part... _that escalated quickly. First Yang, now her, too?_

"Jaune," he finally stated, quirking a brow in amusement as he slowly began to turn his head back to sleeping position, "Y'know, you're more talkative than I figured you'd be. Honestly, I didn't think I'd ever have that effect on anyone."

The first chuckle he'd ever heard from her followed, from any timeline that he could recall; smooth, short, and sweet in away he could only describe as _lovely_... but for lack of a better term, also kinda mean.

"Don't flatter yourself. You piqued my curiosity for a moment there, that's all."

Jaune vaguely raised both brows, the promise of slumber numbing his usual inhibitions as his head didn't bother to lift up from between his knees, "Figures. You cats and your weakness for curiosity, guess I can't blame you for what you're born wi-"

 _CHI-CLICK_

" _Who are you_."

The sharp words occurred in tandem with the jamming of a cylindrical and likely metallic object between Jaune's ribs. A barrel to a miniature pistol was his best guess; this girl was just full of surprises.

"Aaand you're also like the ninja cat in those internet videos, apparently," Jaune noted, turning his head by just a fraction to see that Blake had indeed soundlessly moved to his side in the blink of an eye, "You know, the one where the camera turns the other way for a second and turns back to see the kitten right in front of it?"

" _Don't_... look down," Blake lowly growled, a faint underlying hiss in her voice before Jaune looked forward as calm as he was before, "And I asked you a question."

"Yeah, who am I," Jaune echoed before making to reach up and scratch the back of his head out of habit and wisely deciding to quell the urge, "I'm uh... I'm a friend."

He imagined that line would've sounded much cooler when he said it at first, but at practically feeling the girl's glare burning into the side of his head, he figured it probably wasn't.

"Your internal organs would likely prefer you _elaborate_ in the next three seconds."

Jeez... was Blake always so hostile? But that thought aside, Jaune knew he wasn't about to get anywhere telling this person he'd never met yet - and had rarely ever heard even _speak_ before - the whole story behind his Semblance. The next best thing would have to be playing to the nature behind what little he'd learned about her.

"You're not... the _only_ one capable of making a decent observation around here," Jaune began quickly, catching himself and slowing down lest he come across as evasive, "You just have to pay attention."

The pressure of the object between his ribs lessened as he continued.

"...C'mon, Blake. You really think a bow would hide who you are forever? I've still no idea why you hide it, but I've got no intention of sharing that little secret... so, as far as I'm concerned, I'm just a friend."

"I don't _have_ 'friends'," Blake replied bitterly in a hushed voice to avoid attracting attention from elsewhere, "And I've no intention of _hiding_ who I am..."

A raised brow from the knight, "Oh?"

"...But I've _every_ intention of mitigating the discrimination that comes with who I am."

A soft sigh from the ravenette before Jaune felt the object being retracted from his side... and deadpanning upon realizing what it was that Blake had used to threaten his life.

"A ballpoint pen. _Seriously?_ Can I possibly be any more gullible!?"

An understanding smirk from Blake as she scooted back along the wall to put a few inches of space between them, "Relax. You wouldn't the first to fall for it."

"Well might it have occurred to you that you could just _ask_ me how I knew about you from way over _there_ first, and I would've just answered you?"

"I could've," she mused aloud, breaking her amber-eyed gaze on him to glance at the floor in thought, "But I needed to catch your scent as well. To ensure you weren't another Faunus."

"Why would that matter?"

The gaze returned to him, hardening into a glare in the next second.

"None of your concern," she began before adding with less bite in her words, "But... I apologize for the misunderstanding. I suppose I can't have assumed the bow would've hidden my heritage without anyone becoming the wiser."

"Well... just consider it next time before fake-threatening a guys life, 'kay?"

Blake couldn't help another small smile at his words, raising a brow in vague amusement at the blonde, "Funny. So incensed about this _after_ the fact... at the time, you almost looked like you were ready to die."

Jaune scoffed, dragging a hand down his face and internally lamenting how his precious drowsiness had all but fled from his grasp during the past few minutes, "What was I gonna do, run? I've tried that before. Never ends well. _Heh_... maybe I've just dealt with enough death in my time for it not to be that big of a deal to me anymore..."

"..."

The silence causing Jaune to furrow his brows in question, he turned to see Blake seemingly sizing him up again with her head cocked a bit to the side.

"You're an interesting person, Jaune. Maybe... maybe you and I are not so different, after all."

"I guess," Jaune noted before turning to her with a small smile, "Maybe next time, we actually get to figure that out with _words_... you know, like _normal_ people."

"That... would be nice," Blake noted slowly with a small smile of her own, as if not knowing how to reply to that kind of statement before looking down at her yukata which had ridden up a bit during the altercation and blushing as she pulled the hem down over her long bare legs, "A-Anyways, it was nice meeting you."

"Nice meeting you too, Blake. Good night."

Jaune had never noticed Blake's compromised position in his eagerness to get to sleep after such a long day... he was out like a light within seconds of settling back into his blanket.

* * *

 _"D'you guys hear that? Sounds kinda rough over there..."_

 _"Nora, it's not polite to eavesdrop."_

Another dream. Jaune let the memories sift through his mind as he rested, content to relax and let it play before he realized that instead of the still-frames he was used to, the conversations around him were happening in real-time.

 _"I'd be hard-pressed to try and see if we could help in some manner... what do you think, Jaune?"_

 _He turned back to face the champion he'd seen in memory and life hundreds of times, about to say something when he realized this dream came with a dream-Jaune as well._

 _"I dunno, guys... it's Ruby's team. I think they might wanna keep an argument like that in-house, y'know? I'm sure they can handle it..."_

 _Jaune gaped at his memory-self, frustrated and slightly incredulous that he'd have been so reluctant to step up and offer some aid. Looking at his ex/possible/future partner, he could tell that under the placid mask of her smile, her emotions may not have been so dissimilar to his current ones right now. In any case, both versions of Jaune simply gave up, the five people in the dreamscape turning to the door and listening through the hallway beyond it as a shrill voice shot out for all to hear._

 _"Well maybe **we** were just tired of being pushed around!"_

 _That voice... Blake?_

 _"Blake, wait! Come back!"_

 _Jaune saw his alternate self dash to the door before stopping just short of turning the doorknob. Behind him, Jaune was now able to see the crestfallen faces of his team as there was no longer anything left to do but let the other team's issues run their course._

 _He grimaced at the scene... it may have happened once, but time continuum or not, he would not let himself let something like that slide again... after all, who knew if avoiding such an altercation would help them all be more ready for the impending attack on the tournament?_

 _Jaune nodded to himself, his resolve set before seeing the orange-haired girl in his dream suddenly begin hopping around in sing-song._

 _"It's mor-ning!~ It's mor-ning!~ It's mor-ning!~"_

* * *

"IIIIT'S MORNING!"

Oh Oum... it was actually _happening_.

Jaune opened his eyes to see the same girl making the same dance around another young man he instantly recognized from his memory, the poor guy rubbing the sleep out of his eyes before Jaune unwittingly let his past dorm room habits slip in his frustration.

"Noraaa..."

"Eh? Who said that?" she noted aloud, spinning on her heel to scan the room until resting her eyes on the frozen knight, "It was you! How'd you know my name!"

'Great. I'm officially an idiot.'

Jaune pinched the bridge of his nose as the thought crossed his mind, jumping back with a yelp as he opened his eyes to find the bubbly girl inches from his face.

"Hmm... _Renny!_ I think this guy's Semblance lets him read people's minds! Hey mind-reader, what am I thinking about right now!?~"

"I apologize," the young man with interestingly pink irises interrupted as he walked over to Nora's side, fully-dressed already, "She's very excitable in the mor-"

" _Pancakes_ ," Jaune noted mischievously at the young girl who had been in an unofficial staring contest with the knight in the meantime, the girl's face completely brightening up before turning to her friend with an exaggerated gasp.

"Renny! Renny! I told you, see? _See!?_ This guy is _totes_ a mind-reader!"

At this point, the young man couldn't help raising a brow himself as his interest was stirred before asking, "That's... a very interesting trick. What's your name?"

"Jaune Arc," the knight noted before Nora spun back to face him.

"Eh? Didn't catch that."

But Jaune was already glancing at the cleaning brushes Ren was currently holding for his twin pistols, the knight yawning as he asked, "Wha... ar- thos?

"Jua... arlos... Juan Carlos?" Nora enunciated in question, catching the attention of both young men as she snapped her fingers in realization and then began with a femininely debonair expression, " _Juán Cárlos!_ Very nice to meet you... _Juán Cárlos!_ "

"Are... you going to make that face every time you say that?" Jaune asked, frankly a little disturbed by her mannerisms... and the terrible butchering of his name.

The young man beside her merely nodded his head in good-natured condolence before replying for her, "Probably."

"Anyways, me and Renny - this is Renny, by the way - gotta get some grub before the big test today!"

Ren noted with a placid smile as she began tugging at his sleeve in indication of her not so subtle intentions to leave, "It was nice to meet you, Jaune. Maybe someday you can show me how that trick of yours works."

"Y'know, if there's anyone around here I'd tell about it first, I get a feeling it'd probably be you," Jaune responded with a chuckle as he waved off the teens, noting that Blake was no longer at the location she'd been at last night and thankful that she hadn't seen any of that madness either.

Oum knew that she and her team would deal with them enough if he hadn't changed the timeline too much already.

"See ya later... _Juán Cárlos!_ "

The knight slowly stood up with a groan as Nora rounded the corner out of the ballroom, catching the beginning of her next topic of conversation with Ren in regards to how to ensure they were partnered together.

Something about sloths.

* * *

"Hey there, lady-killer~"

Jaune cocked a brow at the greeting as he entered the locker room, already scouring his memory for any possible points of divergence so soon on initiation day, "Hey Yang. That's a new name... to what do I owe the compliment?"

"Last night. Who knew Vomit Boy would turn out to be such a stud!~"

Lightly deadpanning at his fellow blonde, Jaune simply turned to face her younger sister for an explanation who strangely enough seemed to be sporting a light blush as she aimlessly kicked the floor under her boots.

"Well uh, me and Yang spotted you in the ballroom and we were gonna come over to say hi," she began mousily, her voice catching some strength as she got into the story, "But you looked like you were really really tired though so I said we probably shouldn't but then Yang was already dragging me over and then-"

"We watched you get attacked by that girl in a bow!" Yang cut in with a suggestive wink, "I couldn't believe it at first, but she _obviously_ wanted it! Did you _see_ how much leg that chick was flashing you!? Hehe, two Lien says you totally _Jaun_ -p'd on that chance, am I right?~"

A cricket-chirping silence settled in before being broken by a snort-like chuckle from Jaune, immediately causing Ruby's eyes to go wide and begin shaking her head adamantly with the 'cut it out' hand-across-throat gesture. But at this point, he already knew what he was doing... he just hoped it fixed the divergence.

"What? It was funny!"

Ruby let her hands drop in defeat with a deadpan before noting, "It was _horrible_. That's why no one laughs at her puns."

"Yeah well... one time I tried to make a pun about rubber bands," Jaune noted flatly with a shrug and a small smirk, confident that he'd managed to patch up the issue as he reached the punch line of the pun he'd used dozens of times by now, "But it was a _stretch_."

"HAH!" Yang chortled aloud with a wide grin, her eyes alight at the joke, " _Finally_ , someone who understands the comedic _genius_ of the spoken word! I've decided - there's no way some mysterious hot girl is gonna beat me to you!~"

Jaune froze, barely noticing Ruby's increasingly nonplussed expression as she regarded her sister with admittedly adorable flushed red cheeks, "Yaaaang... _not cool_..."

Apparently, the timeline _hadn't_ been fixed.

"What, _you_ were the one against meeting new people just now~"

"Jaune's _different_ , he's not new!" Ruby retorted hotly as Jaune reached into his locker to take out Crocea Mors where he had placed it the night before, glancing at Yang as well in mock-agreement.

" _Yeah_ Yang, I'm not n- _yah!_ " Jaune stumbled in speech as he stumbled in act, accidentally tripping as he didn't see how his shield came out of the locker which caused him to stumble forward, sword first.

Thankfully, Yang merely sidestepped the awkward blunder, smirking at the young man as he regained his bearings with a huff.

"Jeez, Jaune. If I was getting on your nerves, you could've just said so~ I guess you already have a soft spot for that mystery girl of yours," she noted with a grin before glancing at his sword, "But I hope you're better with that thing against Grimm than for revenge; otherwise, I don't think you'd be able to hit the broad side of a-"

A deathly silence suddenly befell the three teens as they saw a single lock of golden blonde hair floating down smack in the middle of the three of them, Jaune gulping before giving the red-eyed girl a weak chuckle.

"Sorry, Jaune. You may be cute, but..."

 _meanwhile..._

"So, Pyrrha, have you given any thought to whose team you'd like to be on? I'm sure everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong, well-known individual such as yourself!"

"Hmm... I'm not quite sure. I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may."

"Well... I-"

 _ **BABABABABABLAM!**_

Both girls jumped at the approaching blasts of something going through several lockers before landing in their little alcove of the locker room, both young women furrowing their brows in concern over the glowing young man sprawled on the floor about two feet away from them who was currently groaning in annoyance.

"Hey, Weiss."

"Hello... Jaune," the heiress replied unsurely as the young knight slowly stood to brush himself off, the glow of his Aura only barely starting to recede which sure enough caught the attention of the third teen.

"That's quite an impressive Aura you have there to have it surround your entire body like that. Most Hunters can barely manipulate theirs to visibly coalesce over one or two extremities at a time... even _I_ can only get mine to do so around my hands. What is your name?"

As Weiss glanced at Jaune with mixed emotions at him having so easily taken the Champion's attentions, Jaune froze in thought. Sure, he was thankful that the lesson in Aura control the previous day had helped him brace himself for arguably the worst left hook to the face of his life; without it, he was absolutely certain that he'd have been sent back for another time loop.

However, he was also now certain that he had just caused another divergence in the timeline. Possibly a major one.

'Ah, screw it.'

"Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it."

" _Do_ they?" Weiss hedged with crossed arms, deadpanning at the cheesy knight.

"Still up for debate," he noted with a shrug before turning to the Mistrali with a winning smile, "No need to introduce yourself - it's very nice to meet you, Pyrrha Nikos!"

His smile faltered as he realized that the mask was still there.

"I... suppose there isn't, is there," Pyrrha replied with a forced chuckle before adding with genuine sincerity, "But I am glad you are uninjured."

Frankly, Jaune was almost disheartened that the genuine, and even quirky, approach he'd once used with Ruby did so little to get her anywhere near the level of eagerness he recalled during their original introduction, and might've added more if it weren't for the spitfire ball of rose petals that barged into the area spewing out apologies to the knight.

"Be careful, you dolt!" Weiss yelled as she held Ruby back by her hood mid-sprint, the momentum of the girl's entire body below the neck continuing forward which caused her to cry out with a little _grk_ , "Do you have any idea whom you almost ran into with that little stunt of yours!?"

"Um..." Ruby drawled as she scanned the room, her eyes going over all three teens beside her without any distinction between one or the other, "Nope?"

The heiress scoffed, pointing emphatically at the other read-head among them, "Pyrrha _Nikos!_ Graduated top of her class at Sanctum! Ring any _bells!?_ "

"...Nope."

"How about four-time champion of the Mistral Regional Tournament!?"

"...Nope."

"Oh, for Oum's sake! She's on every. Box. Of Pumpkin Pete's Cereal!" Weiss exclaimed in exasperation, Ruby's face lighting up for a moment in what almost looked like recognition before she became crestfallen once more.

"Nope... my dad said that cereal wouldn't be very good for me. Something about too much sugar upping my Semblance to time-travel speeds..."

Jaune chuckled at the idea. Wouldn't _that_ be something...

However, his attempt to ease Ruby's worries came to a pause when he happened to glance aside and see Pyrrha, whose current smile seemed to be completely in dissonance for that of a celebrity who'd just been failed to be recognized by a future peer. At that, Jaune's face went blank in realization.

Oh.

...

 _OHHHHH._

"It's alright, Ruby, I agree that it's not very good for anyone really. But I think your Semblance is grand!"

Weiss gaped at the Mistrali as Ruby immediately blushed as red as her cloak, incoherently mumbling many somethings along the lines of, "D'ohhh, you don't mean _thaaat_... mhgmdfmghamshf... just shut your stupid little face..."

"Ah, _there_ you guys are!" Yang yelled as she entered their line of sight some distance away, throwing her arms up in frustration as she walked over until slowing at the sight of the armor-clad fighter, "Oh, snap. The Invincible Girl decided to come to Beacon?"

Yang grinned predatorily before adding, "First match this year, I'm calling dibs. _You_. And _me_. Wo-mano e wo-mano~"

"That's not even," Weiss grumbled before giving herself a facepalm, "Does no one in this school have an _ounce_ of respect for social standing?"

Jaune, who'd been furiously trying to figure out how to salvage the situation after figuring out Pyrrha's motives at long last, finally found his opportunity to do so.

"Sorry, Snow Angel," oops. crap. "But I don't think so. If anything, I'd say Pyrrha here is actually pretty cool with that, though..."

To his elation, the fighter in question turned to him with a small smile, "You think so?"

"I know so. I get it," he began in earnest, going all out with now-or-never resolve, "I _get_ it. You've been blessed with incredible talents and opportunities. You're constantly surrounded by love and praise... but when you're placed on a pedestal like that for so long, you become separated from the people that put you there in the first place!"

The three young women present only stood there, glancing back and forth between the charismatic knight and the Mistrali who was becoming more engrossed in his words by the second as he continued.

"...Everyone _assumes_ you're too good for them! That _you're_ on a level _they_ simply can't reach. For a girl like that... I'd say it'd almost be impossible to form _any_ sort of meaningful relationship with people. So here you are, the champion out of her element, the big fish swimming out of the pond and into a _much_ bigger sea... am I right? Or am I Oum-friggin' _right?_ "

The small area remained silent for a second more before Pyrrha's countenance broke into a wide, sincere grin, "Jaune, I must say... I could not have said it better myself!"

Jaune grinned as well as she said so, though his grin did fade a bit as he muttered something under his breath in realization, "Wait a sec..."

"It seems I made a wise decision in choosing Beacon for my advancement as a future Huntress," Pyrrha continued as she turned to face the striken young women, "I thank you all for your understanding and pray we have an excellent run side-by-side as contemporaries for our cause!"

"Yeah, but still," Ruby replied softly, "Sorry I didn't know who you were... I hear the teams they make today will have leaders, there's no way you won't be one!"

Shaking her head, Pyrrha gave her a benign response, "Nonsense. Even if that were true, there are many here who will make excellent leaders. I do not doubt that you would make a great one as well!"

 _'Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation. Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately.'_

"Guess that's our cue to go," Yang noted as the students nodded in assent, turning her head over her shoulder to glance at Jaune as they walked out of the locker room, "And sorry about the love tap, Jauney-boy. We still cool, 'kay?"

" _Yaaaaang_..."

Honestly, Jaune had barely noticed Yang's addition or Ruby's miffed reply, simply content that he had figured out what had evaded him about his partner since day one... the _real_ day one. It wasn't a reason to get his hopes up for this loop, but maybe... just maybe...

* * *

"Are there any questions?" Ozpin now asked, satisfied with the congregation of groans and dejections his words had brought about before frowning a bit at the lack of hand raising, "Hmm, well that's a first. Very well, let the initiation... begin."

At that, the first student was launched into Emerald Forest, the rest of the teens dropping into ready position as Jaune gave Ruby a thumbs up.

"Good luck, Jaune," she whispered to him as more catapults were heard going off, "Maybe we'll end up on the same team?"

He shrugged before noting, "You know what. I don't even know anymore..."

"I dunno, sis. If you end up with Jaune as a partner, and I end up with Jaune as a _partner~_ ," Yang noted from Ruby's other side with wiggly brows as she put on her aviators, "It'd kinda be just like what happened to dad, y'know? Awk-waaard..."

With that, the blonde brawler was launched into the forest, Jaune glancing at the narrow-eyed crimsonette as she watched her sister go with crimson-red cheeks.

"Um... what's that supposed to mean?"

Ruby turned back at him in surprise before breaking into a fit of stammering, "Um, uh, nothing! Hehe, n-nothing! Don't listen to her, she's dumb! And uh... well, gotta go!"

 _ **TWANG**_

"Ohhh, no you don't," Jaune noted with a small grin as he couched down with Crocea Mors at the ready until he too was launched into the air, "You may be fast on the ground, but in the air... it's a different game, now~"

Controlling his ascent, the knight kept his eye on the crimsonette in the distance while keeping in mind his target area for landing, calculating for any margin of error before implementing a trick learned the day before and making his body go rigid, focusing his Aura _out_ from his hands and legs behind him for stability.

Needless to say, Ruby, on her part, was fairly surprised when a familiar voice was heard by her side.

"What! Was that! Supposed! To mean!"

"JAUNE!?" she shrieked, her voice high-pitched as she tried to make it travel over the rushing wind between them, "Rocket-propelled armor is illeg- IS THAT YOUR _AURA!?_ HOLY CRAP JAUNE YOU'RE PRACTICALLY FLYING!"

"Not flying! Just throwing out Aura as thrust for control!"

"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE! YOU GOTTA HAVE LIKE A BUTTLOAD OF AURA FOR THAT!"

"Uh, _language!_ " Jaune shouted chidingly with a smug smirk on his face, causing the girl to roll her eyes in amusement.

But then again... it was almost the same thing. With his Aura reserves, Jaune did indeed look like he had two pair of boosters strapped to his arms and feet as they dispelled billowing plumes of cloudy-white Aura behind him. Of course, Glynda had quickly used that and turned it against him the day prior, transferring his momentum to literally send him six feet under the sparring arena floor. But this wasn't Goodwitch... and neither were the Grimm. Jaune smirked, not just because of the tricks he'd learned courtesy of two of the strongest and possibly most troll-ish Hunters on Remnant, but because he could now rest assured that his senses were practically at peak condition along with his ability to sense danger from any-

"JAUNE LOOK OUT!"

Without hesitation, Jaune's body reacted, moving his hands up to his side to push him and Ruby apart with twin plumes of compressed Aura before realizing what exactly they'd just dodged.

"No... _way_..."

"I can't drift back!" Ruby called out in a mix of surprise and frustration, "I'll try and meet up with you when I land! Good luck!"

Jaune nodded, but mentally apologized to the girl as he realized two things.

 _One_ , he was irreparably off-course from the landing spot he'd planned for and practiced sticking literally 100 times.

And _two_... that was _Pyrrha's_ javelin that he'd just dodged by a hair's-breadth.

Adjusting his trajectory further from Ruby's location of descent in the direction the spear had flown, Jaune readied himself to land in an unfamiliar, conspicuous clearing in the forest.

"Man, this is gonna _suck_..."

Preparing his landing as the open area was now in sight, Jaune quickly re-oriented himself so that he was now falling feet-first instead of head-first towards the floor before letting out a concentrated Aura-pulse from his feet. Causing the ground to cave in several inches from the force, his speed was reduced enough to fall the last dozen feet with controlled Aura-bursts from his hands and legs.

"Heh, how 'bout that," Jaune noted as he looked at his glowing hands with a relieved chuckle, "I should've gone to Ozpin for training since the first loop!"

 ** _HISSSSSSSSS_**

With barely enough time to react, Jaune rolled out of the way to dodge a double fang strike that tore up the gound where he'd been standing a moment before, the bewildered teen scrambling up to a standing position as he drew Crocea Mors at the formidable beast.

"Snakes... why'd it have to be _snakes?_ "

The giant Grimm roared, Jaune shrieking as the black-headed beast lunged at him fangs first and blindly swinging his sword in fright.

In the next moment that Jaune realized he wasn't on a Bullhead outside of Beacon, he opened his eyes to see he had slashed off one of the Grimm's fangs, causing it to recoil in pain.

"Heh, that thing came off like butter," Jaune noted triumphantly as he saw the disintegrating fang nearby, running towards a tree as the head zeroed in on him again, "It didn't do much against Glynda's wrenches, though... maybe it works best against stuff that isn't protected by any Aura!"

 ** _NYAAAAAAA_**

Jumping up with a burst of Aura from his right foot to propel him towards the tree trunk, Jaune essentially wall-jumped upwards between the trunk and attacking Grimm with alternating leg bursts before launching himself several more feet into the air... only to be followed by the head of the beast itself.

"Hehe... _force field_."

 ** _PONNNG!_**

The vertical ascent of the Grimm halted by a disc of solid Aura, Jaune seized the opportunity to hold his sword out and give himself centripetal momentum as he descended sword-out like a spinning disk towards the exposed nape of the black snakehead's neck.

"Hiiiiiii- _YAH!_ "

The slash made, Jaune landed near the beast as its black head fell to the ground limp in death... revealing the twin white head rising behind it with palpable killing intent.

"Aw c'mo-"

 _SHING!_

His words dying in his mouth, Jaune watched the Grimm dying instead as a flash of bronze slit right through its own mouth. Following the bronze shield as it rebounded off a nearby tree trunk and began drifting back across the clearing with a strange black glow, Jaune couldn't help a smirk as he saw it return to the expressionless Mistrali before she pulled out her spear which had landed in the tree currently beside her.

"I guess you missed me."

Pyrrha merely raised a brow before blushing in slight embarrassment, "Ah... that. I'm sorry, Jaune..."

"Oh, no need to-"

"-But that wasn't meant for you."

" _Guuhhhhh_..." his voice trailed off as the finger he'd had up slowly fell to his side, "You mean... you were aiming for Ruby?"

"Who unfortunately practically landed on Weiss," Pyrrha added with a tinge of melancholy in her voice that even Jaune couldn't miss, "So... I came to retrieve Milo."

"Wait," Jaune noted, practically gawking by now, "You mean, you didn't even expect to find _me_ here?"

"Eheh..."

"..."

"..."

"Well... this is awkward."

Jaune scratched the back of his neck in thought as a pregnant silence sank in the area again, Pyrrha glancing to the side as both teens remained alongside the giant disintegrating mass of Grimm.

"So... I suppose we are partners, then," Pyrrha finally noted in an attempt to sound enthusiastic, "I'm grateful that we have at least gained an elementary understanding of each other's views and fighting styles at this juncture! You were quite the firestorm just now."

"Heh, I'll leave the pyrotechnics to a certain ball-buster I know. _I'm_ just grateful you killed the other half of that Titan back there," Jaune snarked with a small smirk, to which Pyrrha merely raised a vaguely amused brow.

"You mean King Taijitu?"

"Oh yeah... that's what I meant. I haven't _technically_ been in school for a while, so these things tend to slip the mind."

"Mhmm," the Mistrali hummed in suspicion as she walked towards the knight before cracking a small smirk, "You just called it a Titan just so you could say you landed an 'Attack on a Titan,' didn't you."

"I see you got the reference," Jaune noted with a smirk of his own before making a half-question/half-declaration, "You read manga."

The smirk widened into a small playful smile as she passed by him.

" _How_... did I not know this _before!?_ "

"Not everything about the 'grand and illustrious' Pyrrha Nikos is emblazoned on billboards and cereal boxes," she noted aloud with evident disdain towards her own titles.

"Well! Then I think you'll soon learn that _Jaune Arc_ , the uh... the 'Grand Prestige'... can be _just_ as mysterious!"

Turning back to give Jaune the first genuine grin he'd seen on her since meeting Ruby, Pyrrha merely moved a few branches of the canopy leading back into the forest aside before motioning for him to continue, "Very well. I believe we have a relic to find, _Jaune The Prestige_."

* * *

"You know... in retrospect, this turned out to be disturbingly easy," Jaune noted as he and Pyrrha currently stood in front of a pedestal at the temple ruins, the knight holding a white rook in hand and his partner merely shrugging in response.

"Well it's not like this place was too hard to find!"

Both teens turned back to see Yang emerging from the brush behind them into the circular platform housing the relics, another rustling alerting them to a second person's presence.

"Took the words right out of my mouth."

Jaune cocked a brow as he caught sight of the catgirl in disguise coming out of the brush who gave him a brief nod upon entry.

"Jaune."

"Blake."

"Ah, so _that's_ your name," Yang noted smugly, Blake rolling her eyes as she continued, "She never told me her name out there, and I guess I missed the early-Arc special... so I got the next best thing!"

"Which is...?" Jaune asked in curiosity.

"Keep your friends close~..." Yang paused to wink at the knight, leaving the statement open-ended before he too rolled his eyes. On her part, however, Yang simply eyed Jaune and then Pyrrha beside him before sighing and adding, "But still... _darn_..."

"Guess it just... wasn't meant to be," Jaune replied enigmatically, holding back a chuckle to a joke only he understood. However, Yang didn't seem so fazed.

"Maybe there's a workaround," she noted as she observed what were apparently chess pieces on the platforms, "Some of these are missing, but plenty are matching... which one did _you_ grab, Vomit Boy?~"

Jaune's eyes widened, gripping the piece tightly despite Pyrrha's questioning gaze before stating in a teasing, but believably firm, tone, "Not telling~"

"Boo. Whatever, I'm sure we're all gonna get sent to the same dorm building anyway - plenty of chances to hang out!" she noted with a grin before picking up a white knight, " _Totally_ not choosing this cuz of the underlying pun of choosing a _white knight_... get it? Eh? Eh?"

Silence.

"...Meh. Worth a shot. Hey Blake, how 'bout a cute little pony! ...Blake?"

"Blake. What's wrong?" Jaune finally asked, noticing that the ravenette had gone silent whilst staring up at the sky. Deciding to drop a helpful hint, Blake merely pointed up.

Joining her, Jaune, Yang, and Pyrrha looked up to what seemed like a small dot in the sky... before it suddenly became _two_ dots. With one of them steadily growing larger...

And screaming.

"Did your sister just jump off a Nevermore?"

Yang blinked in disbelief as Ruby closed in, momentarily frozen as she frantically tried to figure out what to do, "I..."

"YEEEEE-HAAAAAW!"

And before Yang could speak, a potent blast was heard just behind the distant treeline before an orange-haired girl flew in amid a cloud of pink dust to snatch Ruby out of the air. Orienting herself appropriately, she reverse-shot another grenade from what was apparently her weapon to pause mid-air and drop to a perfect three-point landing.

Ruby, on the other hand, dropped the last dozen feet to the floor in a face-down heap and an awkward _oof_.

"Did that girl just fly in on a grenade launcher?"

"I..."

Yang was once again interrupted... by Pyrrha.

"Ruby!"

"Mmf-Yang?"

"Pyrrha."

Jaune scoffed, dropping his hands to his side as he watched the Mistrali run to Ruby's aid and called after her with a hint of betrayal in his voice, "Pyrrha!"

Blake merely raised a brow in question with a hint of a smirk, "Jaune?"

"NO!" a fifth voice exclaimed, the orange-haired girl popping up suddenly in the middle of the group with that same debonair expression, " _Juán Cárlos!_ "

" _Nora!_ "

And just like that, everyone's attention was turned to the same general area where the grenade-totter emerged from in the forest to see a young man running out... with a gigantic Death Stalker on his tail. Slowly, all nearby gazes turned back to Nora as Pyrrha and Ruby rejoined the group with equal glares of disbelief at the oncoming madness.

"So uh... heh," Nora began, relating the story with terrible impersonations of the characters involved and amazingly in a single breath as well, "So me and Renny-bear got lost and I kinda heard a sloth call and we kinda met up at this cave thing and I was like 'Renny you learned the sloth call' and he was like 'I never made the sloth call' and I was like 'Yeah you did or else how did you get here' and he was like 'I thought that was you' and we both kinda looked at the cave thing and it turned out that it wasn't a sloth call at all..."

A long gasp of air as color seemed to returned to the girl's cheeks before pointing at the ancient Grimm.

"It was that thing."

Of course, Blake was the one to point out the next item of note in the situation, "Did he just run all the way here with a Death Stalker on his tail?"

Finally reaching her boiling point, Yang burst into flame whilst shouting, **"I can't take it anymore! Can everyone just chill out for two seconds before something _crazy_ happens again?!"**

 _Tick tock, tick tock..._

 _DING_

"Um... Yang?" Ruby meekly noticed after exactly two seconds had passed, just enough time for everyone to look up and see that the dot in the sky had split into two again, "Yeah."

"Don't worry, I got this," Jaune stated with a grin as a screaming Weiss fell towards the group.

Taking a few carefully calculated steps forward, he eagerly rubbed his hands together before calmly spacing his feet shoulder-width apart, looking up at his target, and raising a hand into the air.

"...Force field."

 ** _PONNNG!_**

Hitting the disk of cloudy white Aura about a dozen feet above ground, the students watched the speechless Weiss land and stretch the construct like a very elastic trampoline until she had slowed to a stop about a foot above the knight, the construct dissipating to let the girl land gracefully in his arms.

"Just... dropping in?"

Weiss remained in his arms, glaring at him in utter disbelief for a moment before he let her down. Straightening up and smoothing out her combat gear, she merely glanced at him with prim and proper posture before giving him a short _hmpf_ of gratitude with a small smirk and then rejoining the group.

"Dayuuuuum, boy's got _game!_ ~" Yang exclaimed as she shook a now-dizzy Ruby with an arm at her side, the small girl in total agreement even if she couldn't say so even as Blake couldn't help a slight nod at their side as well. Pyrrha and Nora, on the other hand, simply glanced at each other before trading a short shrug.

"Hey guys, did I miss anything?" Jaune asked as he too finally rejoined the growing group.

 ** _WHHHUMP_**

At the same instant, Ren fell face down in the middle of the group of seven teens, to which Yang threw up her arms in mock elation.

"Great! The gang's all here! Now we can die together!"

As he glanced up at the Nevermore circling them from the air and the Death Stalker closing in on the ground, Jaune had a nostalgic... but knowingly misplaced... sense of déjà-vu.

"Some things just never change..."

* * *

 **A/N:** _Eheh. **Chapter 3** right there, folks._

 _Gonna apologize beforehand, but first news ain't LDR-related._ It's been two years since I last updated these stories, so these notes may be a mix of old and new. However, read the following knowing that the poll has still been up and I've learned what I'll do for pairings. I still encourage you to vote, for research purposes. That's all for now!

 _ **Pairings!** Wow, it's been an interesting poll, I gotta say. Clearly, I've decided to update this fic while wrapping up my main one, and the pairings I was wondering about happen to be in the top 5 of the poll. So yep, I've decided to make it a **multi-ship** story in a different way - not exactly two-timing or harem, but definitely a grey area in a way that only a timeloop!fic could make work. One can already see the new dynamics building in this timeline, which are subject to (i.e: WILL) change. I haven't even added all the ladies yet... So keep voting!_

 _Random side-note: Juan Carlos. It should be a thing._

 _Random side-note #2: Slightly OOC Yang in the end. Honestly, I'd always imagined what Barbara would look like experiencing a DAYUM moment, so here was me transferring that vision into the RWBYverse. Nuff said._

 _On a final note, **Easter eggs**. Yeah I did, some more obvious than the others... but there is **one** very very obscure one which pretty much sums up where this story will go. As in literally revealing whether it's a comedy or tragedy and even how many girl(s) Jaune ends up with in the end. _ Three years later and no one has found the Easter Egg, heh. _If you're up for a hunt, go for it - just don't spoil it for the others! Until next time, take care..._

 _ **And Happy Reading!**_

* * *

 _ **Live. Die. Repeat.**_

 _TPS (c) 2015, 2018_


	4. Divergence

_**Divergence**_

* * *

Seriously, though. Some things just never change.

Eight kids up against two of the largest Grimm inhabiting the south side of Emerald Forest. Whoop-dee-doo. Starts off rocky, but they gain traction, eventually splitting into fours. One group bunkers down on the Death Stalker until tougher heads of iron, bronze, hammers, and bullets prevail. The other one plays Angry Birds before finally giving Polly the last crescent-shaped cracker it'll ever eat. Done! Shoulda been easy, coulda been fun, woulda been a _cinch_.

So as those very eight teens currently made a mad dash through the dense forest, several at a time nervously daring to take the occasional look above or behind them to spy out any more waves of obsidian projectiles or golden stingers, one especially bewildered blonde knight only had one thing crossing his mind...

' _WHERE DID I GO WRONG..._ '

 _five minutes prior..._

"Great! The gang's all here! Now we can die together!"

As he glanced up at the Nevermore circling them from the air and the Death Stalker closing in on the ground, Jaune had a nostalgic... but knowingly misplaced... sense of déjà-vu.

"Some things just never change," he hedged quietly as he picked up the only other student with a Y chromosome in their group before turning to face them all, "We won't _die_... matter of fact, I think I saw some pretty neat-looking ruins near the cliff over in that general direction. We head there, we'll do just fine."

If three months of pinning down splits in the timeline had taught him anything, it should've been at the moment when his partner of all people stepped forward that he realized something was oh so very wrong.

"That _would've_ been a grand idea, Jaune," Pyrrha noted, her eyes squinting at the rocky structure in the distance before quickly eyeing the oncoming scorpio-Grimm, "Until that Nevermore appeared. With it airborne like that, a dash to those ruins would be suicidal. I recommend we charge the Death Stalker in a feint to get us back into the woods before either can prepare an attack. We can find an alternate course to the Cliffs from there."

"And honestly, there's no sense in dilly-dallying," Weiss added, gesturing at the pedestals behind them, "Our objective is right in front of us."

Jaune couldn't help a small huff in unexplained frustration. It felt wrong, but...

"She's right. Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the Cliffs," Jaune finally declared, nodding to the heiress who gave him a small smile in return, "There's no point in fighting these things. As long as we get to the Cliffs in the end, we'll be golden."

"Run and live - that's an idea I can get behind!"

Jaune couldn't help a grin at the crimsonette as she said the familiar line, his grin suddenly fading, however, as he watched her and Nora run to the pedestals and realized it should've been _his_ line.

"Wait a minute..."

"Got one!" Ruby exclaimed in pride before zipping back over to the group, coyly showing the group and her partner the chosen relic with a faint blush, "A white knight, get it? Totally not a biased choice or anything, though... hehe..."

Weiss merely shook her head at her partner, unable to hold back a small smirk at the girl's reasoning that she suddenly didn't quite feel the need to argue against.

"Alll- _right!_ Double whammy!" Nora cried out before popping up next to the group again with prize in hand, "Not only does this make me Queen of the Castle..."

Jaune yelped in surprise as she suddenly appeared beside him and snatched his chess piece out of his hand with incredibly unexpected strength, "It _proves_ me and _Juán Cárlos_ are on the same wavelength!"

The knight gulped. Being on the same wavelength as her... now _that_ was a scary thought.

"You read my mind, and I can do the same with you," Nora noted softly at the blonde with a wide grin and an eerily calm tone as she slowly lifted a matching rook piece in each hand, "That means we're connected now... _Juán Cárlos_..."

"Eheh... Nora, the pancake thing really _was_ a trick, you know..."

But before anything else could be said, the increasing rumbling through the ground brought the students' attention to a much bigger threat than a calm Nora.

"Time we left," Blake noted with repressed urgency, already on the balls of her feet and ready to go at a moment's notice as Jaune turned to glance at Ren for a helping hand.

But slowly coming to a realization as he noticed his usually inseparable friend giving him some space in favor of another, the stoic student merely gave Jaune a tiny shrug of mock-condolence, the knight's shoulders slumping as he got the message.

"Ren! B-Bu... _You were like a brother to me!_ "

"Full advance to the tree line on the far left of the Death Stalker!" Pyrrha called out, pointing her spear in the direction of the charge as the group now made a full sprint to the woods, "We can force it to falter if we pass it fast enough without stopping!"

Jaune remembered the running. He could remember that the teams weren't really meshing yet the first time around, either. So aside from a somewhat overly-clingy Valkyrie, there wasn't too much needing to be adjusted to gear things back towards what Jaune recalled could be a perfect run...

Aside from the multi-ton Grimm which turned out to have the experience to adjust its course mid-charge to converge with the group.

'Welp, time to make my brain useful...'

"Yang! Nora!" the knight called out, getting the attention of the young women in question as the Grimm's tactic began dawning on the group, "You can distract it! Yang, throw some long-range shells at the eyes while Nora readies her hammer! And Nora... SMASH."

The orange-haired girl replied with but a grin and a manic gleam in her eye as Yang sprinted forward and across the group, the brawler now pulling her arm back as the beast grew closer. Letting the punch fly, eight whistling shells made violent contact with the beast, not slowing it down much but causing it to lift its claws to wave off the smoke just long enough to miss the giggling flash of metal headed right for it.

" _Juán Cárlos_ even figured out it's a _hammeeeeeer!_ "

The dull crunch of metal on bone echoed through the area as the hammer maiden made contact on the creature's oversized pincer, driving the appendage down into the dirt which halted the beast's advance in a fountain of gouged earth while Nora used the rebound to sail through the air and into the forest with a bright salute to the knight.

"Incoming!"

Turning his head a fraction of an inch, Jaune could tell what had caused Ren's sudden warning as dozens of whistling projectiles made their way towards the teams before directing the group, "Tree line! On the pronto! Wha-? _FORCE F_ -"

Having made the mistake of not turning enough to see behind him with his peripherals, Jaune was almost positive that his reaction to protect himself with Aura was too late until he surprisingly saw _pink_ Aura protecting him instead of _white_.

His eyes widened upon seeing the jade fighter calmly holding back the single Nevermore feather that had nearly skewered Jaune through the chest at full force with what looked like his bare open palm, only then realizing the power behind this young man as he caught sight of the pink pulsing rings of Ren's Aura emanating out of his outstretched hand from the point of contact.

"Thanks... for not pushing her away. Not many people out there willing to work with Nora so easily."

Jaune blinked at the stoic's stoic words as he turned to face him with a small smile, the two teens trading a quick nod of understanding before entering the woods...

Which were now being mowed down from behind by a rampaging Death Stalker and moved down from above by the steady rain of black feathery death.

This had _not_ happened the first time... and as he noticed the half-disintegrated King Taijitu in the familiar clearing the group had now reached, he couldn't help a small facepalm as he realized _why:_

His fan-like stunt in the locker room had turned Pyrrha away, giving Ruby her favor.

Pyrrha's spear had split them up, forcing him to land away from the Death Stalker as he was pretty sure _he_ was supposed to find the first time... somehow.

Sure, they ended up as partners in the end, but without her initial favor, Pyrrha was trying to be the one wearing the pants in this partnership.

And now they were here.

The Nevermore was never pinned down like it was supposed to be, and the Death Stalker wasn't lured to the ruins like it was supposed to be.

"Alright everyone! Split up! Short-range and melee fighters hold back the Death Stalker while long-range fighters take cover behind the Taijitu and focus fire on the Nevermore!"

And did he mention Pyrrha was trying to wear the pants in this partnership?

"Not on _my_ watch," he grumbled under his breath as the fighters split up.

To Jaune's further chagrin, he found himself facing the Death stalker with Pyrrha along with Blake and Yang in tandem while Ruby, Weiss, Ren, and Nora were trying to gun down the Nevermore. This was _not_ how it was supposed to be going!

And judging by the fact that the Death Stalker seemed to hold up just fine under their attacks and that all the Nevermore had to do was float up just out of range to fire another feather attack at the students... thing's weren't going well, either.

"Duck for cover!"

Thankful that the clearing wasn't too large and that the trees could somewhat hold up against the attack that turned the clearing into some bizarre pincushion, or mass feather-pen holder, Jaune checked around the tree and saw the rest of the King Taijitu carcass completely disintegrated under the blanket of punishment... as well as a stray feather-projectile that had impaled one of the Death Stalker's eight legs at the joint.

"Pyrrha, what do we do!"

"We're almost out of ammo, what do we aim for?"

"Pyrrha?"

As every desperate query rang out across the clearing, Jaune looked to his side to see a small grimace unexpectedly forming on the Mistrali's lips. His face softened upon realization; Pyrrha was the Invincible Girl... she could handle her own style, but she couldn't direct a group, each member with their own styles and tactics! Just as the realization hit him, so did the shock of the Death Stalker angrily beginning to swat down the ramrod feathers peppering the clearing that had turned it into a mini-forest that provided the students momentary cover.

This changed everything. Getting to the ruins was out of the question. There was no way to implement each student's forte in the way it'd been done originally. He would really prefer not to be killed this time around... But what more could be done? They were running out of time, and none of his friends could copy his party trick of reviving from the dead! The consternation alone was killing him quicker than the suspense!

Or _maybe_... it was the sound of even _more_ Grimm approaching them through the forest!?

The knight ran his hands through his hair, each one finding a hearty tuft to pull at as his stress levels intensified, "Rrrrrrrrrrghgrghgh _rgrnyuuurgh_... **_BALLS!_** "

The other seven students took a moment to stare at the blonde, who currently seemed to be entering the initial stages of a severe conniption, before he suddenly turned to point at each of them at a time while beginning to glow a noticeable white glow, " ** _ALRIGHT!_** _Ruby, Weiss!_ Each of you run point on that Death Stalker with Yang and Blake - you're all low enough on ammo as is and won't help for long if you use it all trying to jack that bird only for us to get mobbed by Grimm on all sides instead! Ruby, trust me, I know you can figure out what to do! _Nora! Ren!_ "

"Yes, _Juán Cárlos!_ "

" _uuugh..._ _YOU two_ run support for team RWBY while they figure it out - Nora, tank for them in case the Death Stalker gets a lucky shot, and Ren, slice down only as many feathers as they need to get a clear shot on the thing - once you do, you two rendezvous with _us! Double-time_ , people! We got an Oum-friggin' initiation to pass here!"

"Cute _and_ pushy... me likey!~" Yang called out with an ear to ear grin as the four girls sped towards their new target, Blake rolling her eyes as Weiss turned to her partner in question.

"What is it? Jaune asked _you_ of all people to figure out a plan! Hop to it!"

Ruby only pouted for a moment in thought, "Team... Ruby?"

But back on track, the crimsonette glanced at her partner and nodded, unfolding Cresent Rose for battle as Ren and Nora appeared at their sides to run flank zones. Back behind the edge of the clearing, Jaune turned to face an incredibly impressed Pyrrha as the rumbling of growls and pawsteps approached.

"Alright, Nikos. Let's play a game - Who's the Better Killer. I win, you become the face of whatever team we form. You win, I take the reins instead. I know that neither of us wants the job, but we both know _one_ _of us_ will get it either way. You game?"

Pyrrha narrowed her emerald eyes at the knight, only to crack a wry smirk in the next moment as she admitted, "Am I truly so transparent?"

"Nah. I'm just the blockhead who took forever to figure things out. Incoming!"

Despite himself and all his memories, Jaune could still only gape as he watched the Champion remind him how she earned her name - a dozen Beowolves literally torn to shreds in a matter of seconds while he stood and watched. Yes, stood and watched.

" _You_ ," Pyrrha panted with a hint of surprise as she turned to look at the unashamedly smug knight, "You only stood and watched!"

"Well, I wasn't lying about the bit of me not wanting the job," Jaune stated airily, the smirk not leaving his face as he gave her a shrug, "But I'd rather not die today, and I don't think I'd be able to avoid the responsibility whether I wanted to or not. Besides..."

He paused, Pyrrha walking up to his side to follow his line of sight to the soulless bird of prey trying to find a clear shot on the covered group from above, "I gotta save my strength for that oversized hell-canary up there. As soon as I think of a plan."

* * *

"Jeez! It's still as pissed as ever!" Yang growled in frustration as another volley of Ember Celica shells went wasted on its carapace, Blake's running slice attack along its body proving to be equally fruitless.

"It's body's even tougher than it looks!"

"Rubyyy?" Weiss called out in more of an exclamation than a question as she momentarily caused the creature's pincer to draw back in pain with a fire blast from Myrtenaster, " _Plan!?_ "

"I'm _working_ on it!" the hooded girl called out through gritted teeth as she and Nora weaved around another pincer-strike in tandem, the girl ducking underneath the blow as the hammer maiden leapt over it with a carefree laugh and volley of grenade blasts to the creature's face.

Watching the Dust cloud actually causing the Grimm to falter for just a second, the little bells in the girl's head went off as she noticed it stagger to the side along its crippled leg - a leg pierced by the Nevermore attack, " _Got it!_ Our blades can't pierce it, and we don't have enough ammo to break through either! The only thing strong enough to pierce it is a weapon from its own kind!"

Leaping back to put some space between herself and the massive Grimm, she turned to see Ren slicing through a few feathers to give Yang and Nora room for evasive maneuvers against the wide pincer-swipes and unpredictable stinger-strikes.

"Ren! You think you can slice a few of those without breaking them completely?" A brief glance in question from the stoic, but a subsequent nod of confirmation nonetheless. "Great! I need at least four feathers prepped on your side, stat!"

"You call that an offensive strategy!?" Weiss countered as she leapt back from a stinger swipe to land beside her partner, only earning a smug smirk from the crimsonette.

Ruby held up Crescent Rose by the barrel and loaded the next few rounds with a satisfying double-click from the loading action, "No. I call _this_ an offensive strategy: do you have enough Dust to make one of those ice-thingies for me!?"

" _Glyphs,_ you dolt!"

"That's what I said! Just make one in front of my gun and wait for my mark!" Ruby cried out before calling out to her sister as Ren finished his task, "Yang, fire the last of your ammo into its face at my mark!"

"But it won't do anything!"

" _Just do it!_ " she repeated loudly, having to clear her throat after all that raspy shouting. This plan stuff was gonna be tough, she'd definitely have to shorten commands if they made it through the test.

Maybe shorten combo attacks down to cool names?

... _Oh yeeehhhh..._

 _Done!_ " Ren called out, Ruby immediately turning to her sister.

"Yang, now!"

 ** _POPOPOPOPOW!_**

The salvo of whistling shells going of in a one-two combo to the creature's face from above, the Death Stalker gave out a roar of furious pain in its momentary cloud of blindness before Ruby turned to her partner, "NOW!"

 ** _BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!_**

Three shots fired from the barrel of Crescent Rose, the bullets passed through Weiss' bluish glyph to sail like comets into the base of the Grimm's pincer and tail joints, freezing them all in place.

"Blake! Pin it! Use the feathers!"

Quickly glancing back and forth between the objects, the ravenette understood the idea. Launching Gambol Shroud at the head of the first feather, Blake fired a secondary bullet to yank it off its broken stalk and give it the momentum necessary to fling it above and over herself before slamming it down into another of the creature's leg joints. To their relief, the point of the feather came down through the shell and into the underlying mass of dark flesh with a resounding crack, causing the immobilized beast to lurch to the side as Blake fired at a second feather head.

 ** _BAM!_ ** "Hiyah!" _**Crack BAM!**_ "Hah!" **_C_ _rack BAM!_ ** "YAH!" **_CRACK_ _!_**

With a screech that could only be compared to the scream of a dying lobster, the Death Stalker hobbled to its side uselessly, Ruby giving Ren the go-ahead nod to join Jaune and Pyrrha with Nora before turning back to her partner, "Weiss, care for some hash-slinging slasher action?"

A blank stare from the heiress until Ruby pointed at the dangling tail, Weiss then rolling her eyes as she charged up her sword with pale-green Dust, "You could've just _said_ so..."

 ** _SLASH!_**

With a wide arc, Weiss' subsequent slash sent a glowing razor wind to slice off the stinger from the tail, Ruby zipping over as it fell onto the head of the creature with a dull crack into its thick cranial shell and placing her weapon in rifle form into the top of the stinger. Like a funnel, it had provided the perfect silencer-like extension directly into the brain of the beast.

Locking in her final bullet, Ruby smirked at the wailing Grimm, "Adieu, my crustaceous friend."

 ** _BLAM!_**

And just like that, the Death Stalker became quiet in instant death as the young girl hopped off, silently approached by the ravenette who had her finger raised in correction.

"Technically an arachnid... but okay."

"That's what I said," Ruby noted with a toothy smile before turning to the girls, "C'mon, let's see what Jaune's up to."

* * *

"What exactly are you up to?" Ren questioned as calmly as could be warranted in a situation where your childhood friend was poising her meat-smashing giant hammer underneath a stranger's buttocks in a test swing.

"I told you, Ren," Jaune noted with an ill-hidden huff, "It'll work. Nora, you think you can make the shot?"

Jaune paused as the orange-haired girl fixed him with the most serious deadpan glare he'd ever remembered seeing her give. In _any_ timeline.

"Ask me that again, _Juán Cárlos,_ and I will break your legs. Got it?"

Never doubt a girl with a giant hammer. Got it.

"And what is it you need me to do, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked with no small measure of doubt at the blonde knight.

"Well, that thing you did to your weapons when you found me in this clearing... can you do that to my armor?"

An unsure glance at the two strangers at the prospect of possibly giving away her trump card, Pyrrha noted in a low tone, "Y-Yes..."

"Good. Cuz I'll need all the stability I can get and my Aura bursts take a huge chunk of fight out of me... and I'll need to save all the fight I can get."

And he really didn't want to die. But Jaune didn't actually say that out loud, partly because his new friends probably wouldn't understand the notion - and utter tediousness - of timeloops in general, and partly because his control of fate at this point was kaput due to his placing so much trust in others, whose actions were variables he couldn't precisely control.

"If you say so..."

"Um, what are you doing?" Weiss began promptly as the four girls met with their group only to receive a winning grin from the knight.

"Right on time! Glad you girls could make it, we were just about to implement an idea I got from an old friend once..."

"Um, you had friends who would launch themselves through the air at flying Grimm?" Ruby noted with a light cringe as she put two and two together, making Jaune's grin go impossibly wider as he settled into position on a nearby boulder above them with Nora at his side.

"Heh... you said it yourself," he replied before turning to give the command, "Swing away, Nora. Swing away."

Deeply shaken to his core by the manic gleam in Nora's eyes, Jaune barely remembered to squeak out his command as her hammer began its motion, "force field... meep!"

 ** _PONNNG!_**

And in the next split-second, Jaune felt the rush of wind against his face as he was suddenly airborne, his force field having been enough of a dampener to transfer the momentum from Nora's swing into his vertical trajectory without busting open any important internal organs. Well, his appendix probably wasn't important, right? It was probably a psychosomatic injury, anyway.

"Now for the fun part," Jaune mumbled as he realized the Nevermore was too preoccupied scouring the Death Stalker for any clues as to the whereabouts of its undoers to notice his frankly brain-splatteringly fast ascent, glad to sense his armor keeping him from spinning out of control at noticing the subtle blackish glow surrounding it.

Reaching out his sword, and hoping to Monty he didn't miss, Jaune waited for just the right moment to stab out and at an angle to anchor himself on the massive bird at the apex of his aerial trajectory, just like he had with the tree trunk. With a loud yell, Jaune did just so, Crocea Mors leaving deep gouge marks along the Grimm's back as he slowly skid to a stop along its broad back. If it didn't notice him before, it _definitely_ noticed him now if that angry squawk of pain was anything to go by.

"You, monster, have offended me," the blue-eyed Auramonger stated with a Samuel Jackson-like crazy-glare as he walked up to the base of its neck, the only weak spot he'd ever seen a Nevermore that size have, "There is only one ruler of the heavens. AND THAT'S ME! My sword will conquer the land! My will is the will of the people! I WILL BE- _NYAH!_ "

Thrown back by the sudden increase in velocity of the Grimm, Jaune was only able to hold on by handfuls of feathers as the Nevermore quickly made away with its newest victim.

"That's... not good," Ren noted simply as the students' heads followed the receding Grimm and its third passenger of the day that they could just still hear screaming rather effeminately at the top of his lungs from its back.

"It's headed for the ruins!" Ruby cried out in realization, spurring her peers to action as she began to move, "Time to go!"

Jaune had heard stories about the Hunters of old. Legends really, who had fought all manner of adversaries in heroic feats of valor and strength. He even recalled one instance when a famous Hunter fought off an entire pack of Ursae on the back of a soaring Nevermore... and at this moment, he was now sure of one particular fact when it came to those stories.

"WHOEVER CAME UP WITH THOSE LIES MUST'VE BEEN HIGH AS FU- _WAHHHHH!_ " Jaune cried out as the beast banked a hard left and he held on for dear life.

One could barely hold on to these things when they flew at full speeds... _how on Remnant could anyone stand on them in mid-flight, much less FIGHT on them!? It was impossible!_

Forcing out the air from his lungs in labored breaths against the gale-force winds trying to force air into them with the sheer speeds of unprotected flight, Jaune inched his way back towards the neck of the beast with every passing second. He knew he had to move quick - every moment wasted was a moment more it had to really hurt his friends. And he'd stopped keeping track of what was being said and done in this timeline long ago.

This really had turned into quite the disaster.

But thankfully, Jaune was able to catch a glimpse of the seven students racing towards the ruins in the clearing right before the bridge he'd remembered fairly well as the Nevermore banked hard in their direction again, thinking ahead of them as best he could to figure out what they were going to do now. It didn't take long for him to come up with a pretty decent guess, his eyes wide in realization.

"Of _course_..."

Now, to give them the opening they needed.

* * *

"Pyrrha!" Ruby called out as the seven students stopped just short of the bridge, the Mistrali facing the crimsonette to give her full attention, "You take Nora and Ren and stay here, distract the Nevermore while us four go ahead!"

"What's your plan?" Pyrrha asked as the three students immediately began loading what they had left of ammo.

Ruby looked over at the ruins in thought, making an L-7 square frame around two of its sturdier-looking columns with the tips of her thumbs and index fingers before turning back at the Champion with a wide grin.

"Borrowing an idea from Jaune's crazy friend!"

* * *

The speed of air along with the sudden bouts of ascent and descent to avoid the incessant gunfire causing Jaune's ears to pop for possibly the hundredth time, he laughed a tired laugh as he finally reached the neck of the beast.

"Aha! _Gotcha!_ Now that I _gotcha_ , I'm gonna _steer_ ya!"

Would it work? Likely not. But Jaune had realized something... that there was nothing that could jog your life memories quite like almost dying.

And this hadn't just triggered a memory from his original timeline... but one of his _first_ timeline. His eldest sister. Had to be.

Her name was Arturia.

It was a simple memory, but it was enough. As little kids, her and her younger sisters tickling him on the neck. When they tickled the left side of his neck, his body jerked left. When they tickled its right side, his body turned right. It was a crude theory, certainly one that had never been tested on a Grimm. But it was enough.

For those he'd lost and those he still had, it _had_ to be enough.

Holding on tightly with his right hand, Jaune expanded his shield and made sure to securely strap his left arm into it before triving the tip of the shield deep into the meaty part of the bird's shoulder. Satisfied with its stability, the knight fought against the rushing wind and blonde locks in his face to reach up behind himself for his sword with his right, hanging on as best he could with his left before driving the sword down into the Nevermore's spine as deep as it could go with a loud yell.

"You _will_ obey my commands, so when I say turn _right_ , you turn RIGHT! now SUB- _MIT!_ "

Hearing the subtle cracking of tendons and cartilage underneath him, Jaune felt the entire beast surge to the right, inevitably dropping in altitude as it was against the airflow keeping them airborne. Laughing incredulously in a surge of elation, Jaune focused on his embedded sword with a burst of aura and a wide grin.

"Now turn LEFT!"

 ** _CraKABOOM!_**

His face immediately went blank as the entire beast jolted as if under extreme impact.

"Oops. Hope that wasn't important."

* * *

"DID THAT IMBECILE JUST TAKE OUT THE BRIDGE!?" Weiss exclaimed in disbelief as she watched the Nevermore leaving the scene of the crime, "That's our only escape route!"

" _Easiest_ escape route," Ruby corrected, seemingly unfazed, "I'm sure there are other ways off this thing. And whaddaya mean imbecile? The bird or Jaune? It's not like he's _driving_ the thing."

"True, but still," the heiress muttered as Ruby took a few final strained steps into position against an incredible force, "My dolt-senses are tingling... and they're never wrong... Like with _this_ thing! You KNOW you're crazy, right!?"

Ruby leveled her partner with an innocent smile before catching Blake's thumbs-up in the distance signaling that her makeshift slingshot band was at optimal tautness, "Oh Weiss, you have no idea. Just focus on making the shot, 'kay?"

As a glyph locked the crimsonette into place, the heiress waited with angry mumbling under her breath until finally crying out, "That mindless maniac is still moving too erratically to aim ahead of it! We need something to stall it in order to get a good shot!"

"Once again... talking about the _Grimm_ here... not _Jaune_..."

"Meh. No worries, I got it," Yang stated as she walked up to their side loudly cracking her knuckles, her younger sister cocking a brow in question.

"Um, aren't you out of ammo?"

"Baby sis, you best learn I'm _never_ out of ammo," the brawler noted with an idle grunt as she bent down to pick up a small stone, looking back at the trio of gunners across the broken bridge before scoffing with a smirk, "Sometimes, ya just gotta do things yourself..."

Winding her arm back at the ready, Yang ran forward as the Nevermore came in front of them, making a little triple hop on one leg at the apex of potential energy before letting the stone fly with the sudden launching sound of a small cannon. Its aim was true, bashing the bird right in the side of the skull and forcing it to flap up into a vertical stall with widespread wings of what could be confused as a mockingjay. Though it obviously _wasn't_.

"Weiss, now!"

 ** _TWANG!_**

* * *

Just as the Nevermore began slowing to a stop at the apex of its ascent, Jaune's eyes went wide as he noticed the red blur headed right for him, killer scythe at the ready.

"Look ooouuuuttt!"

"...that crazy, little-"

But giving himself no further reprieve, Jaune used what he had left of his momentum to disengage and leap up from the neck of the beast with a burst of Aura, timing his leap a few dozen feet over the beast in midair with Ruby's approach. Making eye contact for the briefest of seconds, both leaders-to-be grinned mighty grins as each immediately understood the other and they held their blades out at the ready.

"Haaaaahhhhhh!"  
"Yaaaaahhhhhhh!"

 ** _Slashslashlslashslashslashslash...!_**

The students on both sides of the bridge, and the students in the forest, and the Professors on the cliffs, could only watch in muted awe as Jaune propelled himself down to the neck of the beast just as Ruby met it as well, both blades making contact and carving deep as their wielders used centripetal momentum to swing them selves once, twice, _thrice_ around the bird's neck in midair at blinding speeds. And just a quickly, the head came off completely with a violent snap, sending Ruby hurdling into the air over the nearby cliff and Jaune downwards into the abyss.

But their gasps of fear quickly turning into gasps of stupefaction, they all watched as Jaune, eyeing the vulnerable girl in the air about to start falling as well, sheathed and stashed his weapons before letting out four plumes of Aura from his hands and feet. Slowly decelerating until downward motion became upward motion, Jaune came up to catch Ruby in midair, landing on sure ground cliffside before letting her down.

The six students waved back and gave thumbs up as Ruby flashed them a _V_ hand-sign for victory, her aura almost melding with Jaune's into what looked to the ground students like a flurry of cherry blossoms due to the whitened rose petals coming off of them.

That is, until Jaune fainted.

"Jaune, Jaune!" Ruby called out, immediately crouching down over Jaune's head as she scrambled to figure out what'd just happened, "Are you okay?"

"F-Fit as a fiddle," he retorted weakly, trying to crack a smile despite being a little paler than normal, "Just a little low on Aura..."

"Well _duh!_ What'd I _tell_ you!?" she quipped in reply, smacking him on the shoulder as she did so but immediately regretting it when he groaned in response, "I-I'm sorry!"

"I-It's okay... it's just _pain_..."

"D'ooohhhh," Ruby mused in worry, quickly looking the knight up and down as she thought up a remedy, "C'mon, dumb brain, think. Think! Ah, Uncle Qrow showed me this Aura trick once to help out a person with low Aura!"

Quickly reaching over him despite his protests, Ruby placed one hand on his chest and another on the side of his head before assuring him, "Don't worry, you won't feel a thing!"

Jaune's only consolation as he watched the girl's aura glowing a deep red as his began to glow white as well was that she turned out to be right about things in the end - he didn't feel a thing.

He was knocked out cold.

Finally waking up, he saw several faces over him, checking to see his reaction until a mumbled male voice caused them all to stand and give him some space. Jaune tried his darndest to curse at the man smirking at him behind his mug of coffee, but only a few garbled syllables came out before Yang spoke up.

" _Well_ ," the brawler noted, leaving a hand on her hip as she glanced down at the knight and back up at her sister, "That was a thing."

 _hours later..._

"And finally: Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as team RWBY. Led by... Ruby Rose!"

The cheers were loud, and the applause great, as the fanfare for the first-year team that had helped defeat not one, but _two_ , high-class Grimm on their first day continued even after the team hopped off the stage to join their peers.

"Look at that, got your own team and stuff!" Nora stated with a wide grin - and bone-crushing hug - at the more blue than crimson crimsonette before letting the coughing and gasping girl go with a pensive expression, "But wait. RWBY? How come Ruby gets a team name that sounds just like hers? How come we didn't get a team name like that? Team JUAN would've sounded great!"

"Firstly, our name acronyms don't spell Juan," Ren supplied with a small smile at his friend.

"And _second_ ," Jaune butted in with much less tact in his deadpan at the girl, "That's not my _name_."

"Meeehhhh... can I settle with JC?" Nora asked with an expectant smile, Jaune gazing at Ren who was giving him an impossible to read neutral expression and then at Pyrrha who merely shrugged.

"Well, Jaune Arc starts with a J and ends with a C..."

Jaune pinched the bridge of his nose before sighing in defeat, "Eh. I'll take it."

"YAY! JC's a great name! Hey, why don't we call ourselves team JC!?"

"Not enough letters, Nora..."

"Heh, that was pretty _Weiss_ -like of you," Yang noted from aside the group, making an exaggerated show of pinching her nose with an overacted sigh which caused Weiss to narrow her eyes at the brawler with a huff.

"Yeah well, I'd say I actually picked it up from her if anything," Jaune noted idly before catching his mistake, "I mean..."

"But... Weiss has never done that in front of you guys," Yang drawled with a brow raised in question.

Too late.

"Uhm..."

"Hey, Jaune!" Ruby chirped, breaking the tension in the group with her bright expression but quickly regaining his suspicions as her demeanor seemed just a tad _too_ bright and sunny, "Mind if weee... have a word? In, private?"

"Um, Ruby-?" Yang began in suspicion of her own despite the rest's ignorance of Ruby's habits, but didn't get the chance to continue before the girl snatched Jaune and zipped them both away to a more secluded area behind an amphitheater column.

"Phew, thanks for the save there, Ruby," Jaune began gratefully before noting the girl's speedy pacing back and forth a few feet in front of him, "Uh, Ruby?"

No response, just more pensive pacing.

"Uh heheh," he chuckled weakly, scratching the back of his head while finding a way to ease the tension growing here as well, "Y'know, I'm not gonna lie. You sounded more like Yang than ever when you asked to speak to me over there... everything ok-?"

" _That_ ," Ruby stated sharply, pointing at the knight as she stopped her pacing and pointed at him before facing him directly, " _That_ right there. Jaune, I like you. Really, I don't think I've ever _not_ become a mess of craps and giggles in front of a guy I'd just met before... heck, in front of _anyone_ I'd just met before! But we've only known each other for a day... a _day_ , Jaune. But you talk as if you've known me since like, forever! Not that I mind that, cuz that'd be nice! I mean, like knowing you a long time... not that it isn't now, cuz you're really cool and all but... darn, now I'm losing my train of thought..."

Jaune wasn't quite sure what to do in the face of a girl that had slowly deflated from being flushed in the cheeks from emotion to flushed in the cheeks from... some other emotion... but decided to try and placate her anyway, "Ruby, look... I-"

"But _that's_ not even the problem!" Nope. Back to emotion-type-number-one. Window of opportunity has been closed. "How, Jaune. How'd you know."

"How'd I know what?"

Catching a strange expression from the girl who seemed to be just as surprised of the young man who honestly didn't seem to know what she was talking about as she was suspicious, she conceded with narrowed eyes, "You said _Team_ RWBY back in the forest. Not _my_ name. _Team_. _How did you know_..."

Aw, crap.

"Well uh, heh, World's... Best, Guesser, rememb-?"

His statement was cut short by Ruby's action of placing to fingers on his lips, the girl unable to make eye contact with him before finally letting out a sigh.

"Like I said... I really like you, Jaune. I bet there isn't a world out there where we wouldn't get along..." but looking up at him with a strange and almost forlorn look in her eye, Jaune felt a small crack through his heart as she stated with much more steel in her voice, "So if there's something you don't wanna tell me, that's cool. I get it. We all got secrets. But you _don't_ get to treat me like I'm a little kid; enough people do that already. I'm a _big_ girl... so Mister Jaune Arc, I'll let this slide. But let this be the _last_ time you use that excuse on me, got it?"

He blinked. And blinked again.

Had he ever seen this side of Ruby before?

Jaune then began lifting his arms in a show of placation, but was stunned to say the least when Ruby apparently took it as an invitation to a hug and sped over to squeeze him in a surprisingly vice-like grip.

"You had me worried _sick_ up there at the cliff," she muttered into his hoodie, Jaune finally deciding to lightly rest his arms along her small shoulders, "Don't just waste your Aura like that... I know people I care about who _died_ doing that kind of thing, and I don't want you to be one more name on that list, okay?"

"...Okay."

Finally releasing herself from the hug, Ruby made only the smallest of sniffles, but not giving Jaune enough time to wonder just who was on that list before she looked at him with a stern, but warmer, expression, "So, _two_ things. Don't treat me like I can't handle the truth. And don't die on me. _Capisce!?_ "

Finally getting some sense into him, Jaune raised a hand while placing the other over his heart with a small smile, "Scout's honor."

He was glad to see a small smirk beginning to crack on Ruby's face until it grew into a short chuckle, the girl shaking her head at the knight with mirth... though he knew not exactly _why_.

"You're silly, Jaune; sweet, too," Ruby began as she turned to walk back into the amphitheater, her small frame swaying back and forth with every step as she called back over her shoulder, "But you might wanna read up on Hunter-training history - there haven't been any Scouts on Remnant since before the Great War!"

Jaune stood there and stared. And stared. And continued staring, long after Ruby had disappeared from view.

Back on the platform, however, Ozpin stared at the student body as well, a placid smirk on his lips despite the much murkier emotion hovering just beneath them.

"Hmm," Glynda noted, walking up beside the Headmaster with a video playing on the screen, "Looks like some of our newer students couldn't help sharing our initiation's climax with the rest of the world."

Surprisingly, though maybe not to the Deputy herself, Ozpin merely chuckled as he saw miniature versions of Jaune and Ruby decapitating a much larger miniature version of a Nevermore in midair with a sip of his coffee, "Hmhm, I'm rather fond of that part. Worry not, Glynda, it looks like things are shaping up to be an... interesting year."

"Hopefully, according to _you_ ," she noted as she too looked among the students with a slightly more somber smirk before adding, "Not our last."

 _meanwhile, somewhere in Vale..._

A man in a gray mask and black hood entered a shadowy room filled with shelves and a desk in the back, slowly rolling along a trolley towards another who seemed to be finishing a rather unsavory conversation. Thanking Monty above for having been wearing a mask to hide his consternation, the masked man approached the equally sketchy man in the bowler hat, trying to avoid the puff of smoke he blew out at him through his cigar before placing a collection of Lien on his trolley.

He'd prefer not to say anything. According to his comrades, Roman Torchwick could be a complete dick towards their kind when he felt like it.

"Open it."

The masked man complied, doing so with a crowbar on the trolley to reveal the shining collection of Dust crystals within. All shapes, sizes, and colors... why did they need it? Who new, it was above this grunt's paygrade... but the added task placed on the poor chump's shoulders wasn't, the Faunus sighing before reluctantly holding out a video to the man on pause before he could reach for the crystals.

"Guys upstairs asked that you watch it. Went viral on Dust-tube all around the four Kingdoms a few hours ago."

"Ah, so they train their mutts to speak too, do they?" Roman stated with an entitled smirk at the grunt as he took the tablet, muttering in addition before pressing play, "These zookeepers really think of _everything_ these days..."

"Oh look, Lil' Red. Still alive and swinging," the criminal stated aloud in amusement, but after a few more seconds and the very public execution of a very large Grimm, his smirk went from condescending to downright predatory, "Ohooo, my, what a turnaround to my day this turned out to be. Hey you, Fluffy..."

"What," the grunt hedged with evident restraint, Roman only further pleased with the reaction.

"Tell your keepers to feed you extra treats tonight, you've earned it. Chop chop," he continued as he shood away the increasingly miffed Faunus from the area, adding a few dog-whistles and tongue-clicks to add insult to injury, "I have calls to make!"

Picking up the phone, he waited for the dial tone to continue ringing as he leaned forward on the desk, staring at the bright red circle of permanent marker ink around Beacon before stating to no one in particular, "This changes things..."

' _I was going to say the same thing, Roman dear,_ ' a voice suddenly came through the line, Torchwick cocking a brow as he realized the person on the other end was watching the same Dust-tube video judging by the following exclamations of awe from pre-recorded kids who were likely snoozing in their brand new Beacon dorms by now.

' _This changes everything..._ '

* * *

"Okay, Jaune, sit still."

"Ruby, for the millionth time, I'll be _fine_."

"No, you _won't_."

"I-"

"Pyrrha said you had a buttload of-"

"Uh, _language_."

"Ugh. A _ton_ of Aura, and you can't just recharge all that with a night of sleep!"

With a huff, Jaune finally gave in, letting Ruby lean over him and place her hands on his chest and head as teams RWBY and JNPR watched.

"Ruby seems to have taken a rather _motherly_ interest in Jaune, hasn't she," Blake noted flatly with a vaguely amused raised brow to boot.

"Yeah, the oddly hot chick is right," Yang began curtly, only to be interrupted by her new partner as Ruby's Aura began its process of restoring Jaune's.

"Blake."

"I knew that."

"You seemed much more keen about knowing it _yesterday_ ," the ravenette noted with slightly narrowed eyes at the blonde who seemed to watch Ruby's process with Jaune like a hawk, likely to discourage any foul play from Jaune's part.

"All valid points," Yang remarked matter-of-factly as she greeted the now-awoken Jaune with a sweet grin - whether or not it was the I-wish-you-were-waking-up-to-me-beside-you-in-bed kind of grin or the all-Hell-will-break-loose-if-you-dare-touch-my-sister grin was anybody's guess - before crossing her arms under her noticeable assets with a teasing scoff at the knight, "Though I think it's much more concerning that no one's addressing Birdrider here's usage of the word, _language_."

"Uhm... say what now?"

"Meh, don't listen to her," Ruby noted airily, softly placing her hand on the slightly-surprised Jaune's cheek to check his glowing features for any issues. Literally, they were still glowing. "All done! Looks like you're all topped up now!"

"Yay," Jaune noted mockingly, "And I'm not unconscious!"

A shove from the crimsonette before she retorted petulantly, "Still, even if you did get knocked out again, you'd _still_ be having a better day than us. Got up late-"

"So did we."

"Weiss got mad during Port's class-"

"When is she _not?_ "

"Hey!"

"But still!" Ruby persisted, adding a pout to her pity party which caused all unsuspecting viewers but Yang and Jaune to be won over in her favor.

"Awww, _Ruby_ ," Jaune joked with an eye-roll, "Don't be the crevice in my arm!"

"Crevice in your ar-? _Ack!_ Unhand me, vile meanie! Mmf!"

But Ruby could be heard no more, now locked in a noogie that even Yang had to admit she could be proud of.

Yep, this kid was _perfect_.

"Now class, settle down," Glynda stated as she walked in to find the bustling thrum of students that could be expected on the first day of any combat class in Beacon Academy. And as could be equally expected, Miss Goodwitch would be sure to fix that promptly, "Settle, _down_."

And as if by some external force, every student fell silent and immediately sat in their bench seats with proper, rigid posture. Which Glynda just had to grant herself a small smirk of satisfaction for; after all, it was by _her_ external force - telekinetic force, that is - that they had all complied at once as well.

Yep, she stiiiiill got it.

"Now, let's see," she noted idly as she walked towards the center of her room, letting a few more seconds roll by with every student in telekinetic lockdown to let the might of her Semblance sink in, "After yesterday's memorable initiation, I'm sure many of you are eager to begin making names for yourselves among your peers in the sparring ring as well. So with that, welcome to Combat Training One-Oh-One."

At that, she looked up just as she released her hold on them, giving the students a placid smile as they loosened themselves out of their pain-inducing positions or otherwise gasped for air.

"Being that there are no standings to begin with to meter out fair match-ups, we will commence our first sparring match arrangements of the day based solely on our standard and," she paused as she unexpectedly received a message on her tablet from sender _OzzieP_ , strongly resisting the urge to roll her eyes at the short blurb which ended with the emoji of the popular 'troll-face' meme, "...completely _random_ match-up simulator. So, to begin our first match, we have..."

"Huh. Prof's typing quite a bit for it to be a _random_ simulation, dontcha think?" Yang noted as Glynda continued typing a storm into the device in front of the whole class, to which Jaune, whose eyes were getting more and more narrow by the second at the all-too-peaceful Deputy, shook his head in denial.

Oh but he knew. He _knew_ the _real_ woman prowling underneath that ambiguously-submissive librarian outfit.

" _Nah, Yang_ ," he gritted out with a strained tone and even more strained fake smile, actually drawing the concerned glances of his new teammates as they saw a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead, "Totally... _just,_ your imagination! Heh! Heh! _Heh!_ "

"Ah yes, there we are," Glynda noted oh so professionally before looking up at the banners behind the sparring ring, many of the students _aw_ -ing in disappointment as they saw two faces that had already taken the world by storm overnight with internet video hits numbering in the hundred-thousands before she turned to the students in question with a smile.

"Miss Nora Valkyrie... and Mister Jaune _Arc_. If you both could please come to the stage."

"Um, Jaune. Are... you alright? Panting a little heavy there," Ren noted helpfully as Nora leapt up with a whoop of excitement.

"Never better, _broCHAcho. Never better_."

Even people outside teams RWBY and JNPR couldn't help but wonder as Jaune stood up and let two broken halves of a pencil they didn't even know he was carrying drop on the bleacher bench beneath him.

"Excellent, you both seem at optimum health," Glynda noted, smiling at the young leader whose smile was all but venomous in return.

"Oh... aren't you so _thoughtful_ , Miss _Good-Witch_ ," Jaune replied while never dropping his smile, confusing Nora as to which half of the professor's name he was actually stressing.

"Always, you seemed so frail yesterday that I almost believed you'd have to settle with a _retake_ of initiation!" she retorted with utmost amiability, Jaune's following expression being a mix between revelation and mild psychosis.

"Ah _hah!_ Ha HAH! You're... so... _funny!_ " he stated, Nora now more confused and actually slightly grateful that people couldn't hear their conversation too well from the stands.

The students of Beacon had to be _utterly convinced_ that _she_ was the maddest hatter of them all. Period.

"Um, wow guys. I guess you must know must've met each other a long time ago," Nora stated with a rare nervous chuckle, "You both get along so well!"

"Why thank you, Miss Valkyrie," Glynda replied with her ever-present well-meaning teacher demeanor, "I've barely known Mister Arc here for a day, though I'm _sure_ he may tell you that he's known me for _much_ longer... he has such a penchant for stretching the _truth_ , the silly boy! Jokes aside, I'm sure we'll have much more time for conversation later. For now, let us focus on the match, shall we?"

"Okie-dokie!" Nora stated cheerily, though it immediately died again upon Jaune's final words, dripping with some primal rage unintelligible to the bubbly young woman.

"Oh. _We shall_."

Since when did he develop that twitch in his eye?

"Alright, contenders," Glynda now stated with a projected voice so that all in the area could hear, "Let the match, begin!"

"Alright, JC, ready for the Legion of Boom!?" Nora cried out with growing excitement, readying her weapon as Jaune faced her with a slow nod.

"Sure... bet you five Pancakes you can't hit me hard enough to break my legs."

"Hehe... _wrong_ bet to make," Nora noted aloud with a ear to ear grin as she charged the knight, "Good thing you got the Aura to handle what's coming! I'll be eating maple flapjacks tonight!"

"I'm sure you will," Jaune noted with a dark smirk, doing quite the opposite as he readied his sword and charged her as well by actually turning off all aural output completely.

Screw Goodwitch! Screw Ozpin! Screw the timeloops! _Jaune dickie-Grimm Arc_ would have the last laugh today!

That is... up until his face went flat at the realization of what a reset at this point would _mean_ as far as having to repeat the last 24 hours...

"Uhh... maybe-"

"Heeeeeere's NORA!"

" _OOOHHHHHHHH!_ " the audience all yelled in unison as Nora's first hammer-swing made full-on contact with his chest, caving in his entire ribcage with a sickening squelch that all could hear.

Jaune Arc died instantly.

* * *

"All valid points... though I think it's much more concerning that no one's addressing Birdrider here's usage of the word, _language_."

Jaune's eyes fluttered open, his vision focusing on his surroundings and suddenly blinking a few times as he realized he was not on the Bullhead like he'd expected. Glancing from the crimsonette's cute features in front of him to those of her older sister's, then over the rest of the newly-formed teams RWBY and JNPR one by one, Ren finally noted, "Um, Jaune. Are... you alright? Panting a little heavy there."

As if he never heard his new teammate, the blonde knight simply turned his shield into view, lazily noting the two golden stars on the ivory sheath before slowly letting his head plop back on the row of bleachers behind him, closing his eyes, and muttering something to no one in particular.

"Congratulations, Jaune... you've just turned one-hundred."

Not that they would've understood, anyway.

* * *

 **A/N:** _Eyyyyyyyy. That's it._

After watching Volume 5 and realizing that mayyyybe not just anyone can top up aura like that, a little voice in my head told me that I should reconsider changing the top up mechanic... but I could barely hear that little voice over a much louder little voice telling me to just _roll with it_. So that's that.

 _Easter Eggs, an attempt at drama... and more Easter Eggs. I should add more to this, but I'm at work. And I need bed. ASAP._

 _Gnite peoples. **Fave, Follow, and Review** to show your support if you like the wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff!_

 ** _And Happy Reading!_**

* * *

 _ **Live. Die. Repeat.**_

 _TPS (c) 2015, 2018_


	5. The Observer Effect

_**The Observer Effect**_

* * *

"Boy, looks like our new Birdrider's _Jaune With The Wind_ , eh?"

The knight furrowed his brows with his eyes still closed, unable to hold back the groan coming from the deepest depths of his soul at the pun. To be fair, everyone else's groans were much louder, though he had to admit Yang's pun was actually kind of funny. And to also be even _more_ fair, the groan was probably from the last few times Nora had nailed him... and with the lingering buzz in his ears, he really felt hammered.

Jaune grimaced, hoping to Monty he hadn't thought that last bit out loud... Yang would have a field day at his expense.

Or rape him on the spot.

"You know, Xiao Long," the knight finally stated, picking up his head to glance at her with an amused smirk, "I'm pretty sure the universe could be warped and beaten six ways to Sunday and you'd _still_ have those puns to your name."

"You know you love it!"

"I know you'd like me to."

"Is that an _invitation_ , sweetie?~"

Jaune rolled his eyes at her, though Yang was proud enough that she got him to keep smirking as he did so.

"Meh, don't listen to her," Ruby noted airily, softly placing her hand on the slightly-surprised Jaune's cheek to check his glowing features for any issues. Literally, they were still glowing. "All done! Looks like you're all topped up now!"

"Yay," Jaune noted mockingly, "And I'm not unconscious!"

A shove from the crimsonette before she retorted petulantly, "Still, even if you did get knocked out again, you'd _still_ be having a better day than us. Got up late-"

"So did we."

"Weiss got mad during Port's class-"

"When is she _not?_ "

"Hey!"

"But still!" Ruby persisted, adding a pout to her pity party which caused all unsuspecting viewers but Yang and Jaune to be won over in her favor.

"Awww, _Ruby_ ," Jaune joked with an eye-roll, "Don't be the crevice in my arm!"

"Crevice in your ar-? _Ack!_ Unhand me, vile meanie! Mmf!"

But Ruby could be heard no more, now locked in a noogie that even Yang had to admit she could be proud of.

Yep, this kid was _perfect_.

"Incoming, guys. Best behavior," Jaune quickly noted, dropping his victim. His peers only looked at him for a moment in question before understanding his warning. Glynda was paused at the threshold of the door, typing away in her tablet.

Ruby cracked a small smirk at the knight as she patted down her ruffled hair. Jaune may be hiding something... but his judgment had yet to fail them. She could learn to trust that.

"Now class, settle down," Glynda stated as she walked in to find the bustling thrum of students that could be expected on the first day of any combat class in Beacon Academy. And as could be equally expected, Miss Goodwitch would be sure to fix that promptly, "Settle, _down_."

And as if by some external force, every student fell silent and immediately sat in their bench seats with proper, rigid posture. Which Glynda just had to grant herself a small smirk of satisfaction for; after all, it was by _her_ external force - telekinetic force, that is - that they had all complied at once as well.

"YAAAAAAWWWWWWWN!"

The disciplinarian froze mid-step at the young leader who suddenly stood up with a leisurely over-the-head stretch, smacking his lips a few times in satisfaction before leveling her with an evil smile, "Gosh! Did class start already!? I'm so sorry, _Glynda!_ "

"Professor _Goodwitch_ to you, Mister Arc."

"Same thing!"

The students would've frozen as well at the audacious knight who to the untrained eye seemed to have a bone to pick with the Professor, but... well... they already _were_.

"Nice trick, too. You know, it confused me how it worked - until the _last time_ you did it. Figured it out. Pretty cool, right?"

"I _see_ ," she noted idly as she walked towards the center of her room, letting a few more seconds roll by with every student in telekinetic lockdown to let the might of her Semblance sink in - especially with _this_ show of defiance so soon in the year, "It seems _some_ of you are eager to capitalize on your newly-earned fame from yesterday's initiation. Consider this your only warning, Mister Arc... lest you be forced to _retake_ today's course."

"Bet you fifty Lien I already _will_."

The woman's glare intensified on Jaune, who finally decided he'd got his initial point across and sat down with both hands up in placation, though the glare in his own eyes remained. Glynda let out a minute scoff at the young man.

Sure, he had talent. But there was so much he had yet to learn.

"As for the rest of you who wish to begin making names for yourselves among your peers in the sparring ring," she began, entering notes into her tablet regarding ideas for Jaune's future 'training' sessions, "Welcome to Combat Training One-Oh-One."

At that, she looked up just as she released her hold on them, giving the students a strained smile as they loosened themselves out of their pain-inducing positions or otherwise gasped for air. But her heart just wasn't in it. Jaune was trying to undermine her... there would be retaliation.

"Being that there are no standings to begin with to meter out fair match-ups, we will commence our first sparring match arrangements of the day based solely on our standard and," she paused as she unexpectedly received a message on her tablet from sender _OzzieP_ , strongly resisting the urge to smirk an evil smirk at the short blurb which ended with the emoji of the popular 'troll-face' meme, "...completely _random_ match-up simulator. So, to begin our first match, we have..."

"Nora Valkyrie and Jaune Arc! Right!? Of _course_ I'm right!" Jaune declared unexpectedly, shooting up to a standing position with a finger held up in dictation, "Well I _accept!_ "

At that point, the Deputy knew. He'd already been though this before... and Ozpin was right.

Following instructions, Glynda ran the edited simulator anyway, turning up to the banners with a neutral expression at the results, "So it is."

"Huh. Pretty good guess against a _random_ simulation, dontcha think?" Yang noted as Glynda continued typing a storm into the device in front of the whole class, to which Ruby scoffed dismissively.

"Ye _p_ ," she replied, popping the 'p' sarcastically at the knight, " _World's Best Guesser_. Right here at Beacon."

"You said it... not me," Jaune defended sincerely as Nora gave a short whoop in excitement, rubbing Ruby's shoulder affectionately and stating before he left, "It's complicated. But it won't be forever, 'kay?"

"...mm'kay."

Jaune turned, unable to see the short blush his contact with the crimsonette had caused her as he turned his sights on his target and made his way towards the ring. Sure, Goodwitch _seemed_ harmless enough, but he knew. He _knew_ the _real_ woman prowling underneath that ambiguously-submissive librarian outfit.

And now he figured out how her Semblance worked.

Aura control. It all boiled down to that. Use the energy within you to manipulate the objects around you. Telekinesis was a simple thing after all, and any schmuck who'd ever read a comic book would know that the easiest way to stall an unstoppable force - telekinesis - would be to present it with an immovable object. And it only took the worst six hours of his life and a few direct doses of Glynda's Semblance to figure it out.

 _Aura_.

All he had to do was know when it was coming and he could cancel it out with a pulse of his own! Funny thing was, any kid present would've been able to do the _exact same thing_... that is, if it weren't for the fear. Made sense; ultimately, it was fear that paralyzed Aura. Once afraid, you couldn't act; unable to act, you couldn't defend; unable to defend, well... might as well stick a label on yourself reading 'Grimm Fodder.'

"Excellent, you both seem at optimum health," Glynda noted, smiling at the young leader whose smile was all but a mocking reflection.

"I hate you."

Nora visibly faltered at the remark, not sure whether to be more surprised at her leader's words or at the fact that both blondes simply kept smiling as if he'd just said 'Thank you.' Nora blinked in thought... truly, JC was indeed a _fearless_ leader.

"Um, wow guys. I guess you must've met each other a long time ago," Nora stated with a rare nervous chuckle, "You both get along so well!"

"You can say that," Jaune cut in with an innocent smile which was really anything but, knowing exactly when to speak ahead of the Professor's reply, "I know I only technically met her yesterday, but I feel like I've known her for waaaaay longer, down to her _deeply_... _ingrained_... _love_ for academics!"

Nora cocked a brow at how they both took a moment to trade wide smiles in reply to his statement. Yep, they were weird.

 _Her kind of peeps! YEAH!_

But still... she'd ensure that the students of Beacon were _utterly convinced_ that _she_ was the maddest hatter of them all. Period.

"Why thank you, Miss Valkyrie," Glynda replied with her ever-present well-meaning teacher demeanor, "Compliments aside, I'm sure we'll have much more time for conversation later. After all... I'm sure Mister Arc here is looking forward to this bout, along with many, _many_ more that will be sure to come between you both! But or now, let us focus on the match, shall we?"

"Okie-dokie!" Nora stated cheerily, though it immediately died again upon Jaune's final words, dripping with sweetness that to even the bubbly young woman seemed a bit out of place.

"Oh. _We shall_. You'll see! I'll enjoy the _Dust_ out of it!"

Since when did he develop that twitch in his eye?

"Alright, contenders," Glynda now stated with a projected voice so that all in the area could hear, "Let the match, begin!"

"Alright, JC, ready for the Legion of Boom!?" Nora cried out with growing excitement, readying her weapon as Jaune faced her with a slow nod.

"Sure... bet you five Pancakes you can't hit me hard enough to break my legs."

"Hehe... _wrong_ bet to make," Nora noted aloud with a ear to ear grin as she charged the knight, "Good thing you got the Aura to handle what's coming! I'll be eating maple flapjacks tonight!"

"I'm sure you will," Jaune noted with a dark smirk, doing quite the opposite as he readied his sword and charged her as well by actually turning off all aural output completely.

"Heeeeeere's NORA!"

Surprised at how well her fearless leader ducked under her first horizontal hammer-swing launched at full speed as well as the next few test swings to check his reaction times, her grin grew as she saw where he'd skidded off to after the last dodge.

Silently cursing himself as he promptly realized he'd skidded at least a foot too short from where he needed to be and would have no way to evade the incoming attack, Jaune simply made a mental note to adjust his legs a little higher next time to minimize traction.

Not letting the momentum from the missed swing go to waste, Nora spun Magnihild over her head with the skill only she could muster before bringing it down full force right where Jaune was rolling off to.

'Welp... still a better way to go than by grena-'

" _OOOHHHHHHHH!_ " the audience all yelled in unison as Nora's second hammer-swing made full-on contact with his chest, caving in his entire ribcage with a sickening squelch that all could hear.

Needless to say... _yeah_.

* * *

 _several resets later..._

Now, if anyone could validate how truly _random_ Nora could be... it was Ren.

Conversely, if there was anyone who actually _knew_ Nora... it was also Ren.

Sure, that didn't sound like saying much since Nora seemed like a rather simple person on the surface. But that was just the surface. The stoic had grown up with her, learning her every quirk and nuance beyond the scope that most ten-year marriages could hope to achieve. But to be fair, Ren and Nora had spent that amount of time together and more... especially considering the young woman who had mastered the _sloth-hug_ technique by the age of eight.

Yeah, Ren and Nora had their story. But no one ever dared to ask... either because they knew of her notoriousness for the embellishment of tales of because they knew of his notoriousness for not telling any. But was it really so complicated? No. The best stories rarely are... but so are the worst. And this particular story was all too simple... one that could be summed up in four little words, to be precise.

 _Everybody died, except us._

Yes. A simple story indeed. But Ren had grown up to insulate that part of him so that he'd never have to complicate it any further than that. Little did he know, however, of the effect that'd have on the bright-eyed girl with whom he'd formed that inevitable bond. One formed through shared tragedy.

Indeed, as one personality developed, so did the other to complement it, each resulting to fit together as nicely as the coasts of the continents of Vytal and Mantle... puzzle pieces that existed together just as well as they did apart. In their case, Nora provided a constant hum that kept the young stoic from receding into himself completely; on the other, he served as the anchor for her hectic mega-train of sugar-powered thought that translated both through her words and her fighting style. Therefore, when Ren had decided on a Hunter's life in an attempt at projecting the unspoken paradigms of who he was as a person to the world in a positive light, Nora didn't hesitate for a second to tag along. She knew as well as he did that even though they could survive just fine apart... most of that time would very well be spent thinking of how long it would take until they were together again.

Mind you, not together-together, though.

Nevertheless, if there was anyone who actually _knew_ Nora... it was Ren.

So when Ren was suddenly engrossed upon noticing this new young leader reading Nora's fighting patterns, or lack thereof, like a book during the first thirty seconds of their sparring match...

Now that, _that_ was saying something.

"Dang, Ren, your girl's a beast in the ring!" Yang noted jovially as they watched Nora move with impossibly graceful finesse considering the giant warhammer she wielded, "I'm gonna have to get a round with her after I'm done with Py-"

" _Sh_."

Wide-eyed in affront, Yang glared at the finger the stoic student raised in her direction as he scrutinized every one of Jaune's evasions as much as he did Nora's. It was... impossible. The reflexes, the reaction time, the _certainty_...

"Oh nuh- _uh_ ," Yang began beside the group, cracking her knuckles with a flare of heated Aura, "Jaune's team or not, I ain't takin-"

"You can cool off, Xiao Long," Weiss stepped in, the cold bite in her words after a rocky Grimm Studies course still lingering in her voice as she stiffly held out an arm to bar the brawler's access of crossing her.

"Easy for _you_ to say, Ice Queen!"

"Hey! Ren is doing a fine job of setting the example of a model student in class," Weiss began explaining informatively, motioning at the student in question with her other arm, " _Observing_ the match at hand instead of engaging in petty-"

" _Sh_."

Weiss' words stopped cold in her mouth, the remainder of his team and hers watching in silence as the slack-jawed heiress slowly turned her head to face the upheld stoic's finger directed at her. Could hell freeze over in a moment? Oh yes it could.

"Oh no he did _not!_ "

Despite the secondary scuffle which broke out mere inches away from him as team RWBY tried to hold back the heiress from reaching out and grabbing him, Ren didn't even flinch as he kept his gaze trained on the main match. Jaune's motions were seamless - pure defense, but it was perfect... _too_ perfect. With every leap and deflection timed in perfect sync against Nora's attacks and with placement of utmost precision, it really _was_ like he knew where she was going to be.

So then, could Jaune Arc _actually_ read minds? Ren shuddered at the thought; what would life with a Semblance like that even be like!? He surely would've gone mad long ago.

Though despite such potential for dueling supremacy, the knight used whatever ability that gave him such skill in combat solely for defense...

"...Just what are you waiting for?"

 ** _POW-TWAK_**

Unfazed by the sound that came not from the ring, but from beside him, Ren granted the almost-crime-scene a passive sideways glance to see Blake having "accidentally" shot out Gambol Shroud in kusrigama form at Ruby's behest - judging by the girl's subsequent thumb's up at the ravenette's action of essentially wrapping their bickering teammates together - and a bewildered Pyrrha looking upon the girls' compromising situation with a rising blush.

"This... mmf, is _so_ humiliating," Weiss hedged, though her voice was a bit muddled coming from between Yang's more prominent features.

"What? Seeing where you're at, or seeing the size you're _not_ at?~" Yang noted with a cocked brow in amusement despite the light dusting of pink on her cheeks from her own discomfort, neither girl unable to budge from their current position despite the heiress' continued attempts to reach for her rapier which was tied back by more Gambol bands.

Seriously, though... no one else intervened in this situation? It's a _classroom_ , for Oum's-sake!

"I... _guk_ , I _swear,_ Yang... I will run you right through the _boob_ when I get out of this."

"..."

"There's a shortage of perfect breasts in the world... it'd be a pity to ruin _hers_."

The five girls present slowly turned their heads towards the wholly unexpected source of the statement, though Weiss' kinda didn't get there as it was still mostly obscured by Yang's... _mammary_ , the surprised stoic merely turning his head back toward the fight without another word.

Ah... so he _had_ said that last thought out loud.

"Umm... changing the subject," Ruby drawled, nervously patting her sides as her gaze skirted around the group to look for anywhere it could go to do just that before finding a viable segway as her hand chanced to fall on her side pouch, "Uh, hey. Anyone seen my Cross Mag for Crescent Rose?"

"No," Pyrrha replied, only all too happy to occupy her mind on anything else than the pair of hotheads tied together in front of her, the one with scalding heat and the other with an icy burn... almost like, like... a _freezerburn_ , "What's it look like?"

"Well it's red, about the size of my hand, has four arrows on it... and contains Dust-augmented rounds _that could **explode** if not handled properly!_ "

Blake raised both brows, giving her leader a short nod in approval, "That... was actually a pretty good subject change."

"Found it."

The girls - except Weiss - turned to follow Ren's pointed finger only to go slack-jawed as they saw Jaune pulling it out in the sparring ring against his opponent with a smug smirk on his face.

Each fighter panting as they stood across each other in the ring, each one sporting a mighty grin at the other as well, Nora finally began as she stood leaning on her mighty hammer, "Finally! Someone _worth_ 'fragging!"

"Then do, your, _*pant*_ _WORST!_ "

And to everyone's surprise, the electric lights in the area seemed to dim in and out of normal brightness as the hammer maiden let out a mighty laugh, suddenly seeming to be back at full health as she reached out for her weapon and began its transformation.

" _AHAHAH!_ AS YOU WISH, FEARLESS LEADER! Oh Monty, _Bless_ this thy launcher, that thou mayest _blow_ thine enemies into tiny bits! ... _In thy Mercy!_ "

Once the weapon locked in place as a pink glow began surrounding its barrel-head, Jaune enacted his plan, leaping back while speedily chucking an object at her in a single motion which caused the crazed girl's face to soften as she clicked the grenade trigger.

"Huh-?"

 ** _CRACABOOOOOM!_**

The entire building shook with the resulting explosion as Nora's grenade made contact with Ruby's rifle cartridge right in front of her face, sending the girl soaring way back as Jaune absorbed the explosion mid-air with his outheld shield before landing just inside the ring in a perfect three-point landing.

The entire audience practically rioted in cheers a split-second later.

"Match victor... Jaune Arc," Glynda intoned as she casually strolled onto the ring, obviously nonplussed at both the named victor and the gratuitous wholesale destruction that accompanied said victory.

Jaune granted them all a small wave, if only to use the motion as a buffer for his shaded words at the Professor, "See? _Told_ you I'd enjoy the Dust out of it."

"Yes," she drawled, turning to both telekinetically peel the hammer maiden off the wall and to cover her own words in reply, "Just as Ozpin predicted. Your abilities activate no matter from _whose_ hand your demise originates."

Jaune stopped waving, deadpanning at the smug Deputy as she let a still-dizzy Nora drop beside them before noting, "You mean Ozpin was in on this? Like, to _experiment_ on me!?"

"Well, I couldn't do _all_ the mopping around here with that unkempt head of yours," Glynda noted with a small smile before adding, "And Ozpin would like to see you after class. Despite the thousands of Lien in damages you've caused without a second thought, he's rather pleased with your performance."

Satisfied with her delivery, the Professor settled with letting Jaune mutter a slew of curses at her side before lecturing Nora, "Now, Miss Valkyrie. You must always be vigilant no matter the opponent you're facing. Sure, the opponent _may_ seem frail and helpless... also lacking in agility, fighting prowess, and all forms of knowledge in general... but you must expect the unexpected. _Always_. Now, both of you return to your seats."

"Aww, Jaune doesn't get any critiques?" Nora complained with a huff, to which she turned to level the peeved knight with a smile.

"Oh no, Miss Valkyrie. I've been instructed to save a _special_ progress report for Mister Arc during the week. Now, off you go."

Nora's shoulders slumped a bit as both students walked back to their seats, "Lucky..."

"Trust me," Jaune hedged in reply with a mix of anger and bewilderment, his steely expression finally melting into a dejected sigh as he finished, "I'm _not_..."

" _So_ ," a cross-armed Ruby began with a petulant pout as Jaune and Nora approached the group, "Am I to add 'experienced pickpocketer' to Jaune Arc's mysterious list of skills?"

"Not experienced," Jaune noted while lifting up a hand, shaping his fingers into the universal thumb-to-forefinger style of pocket-picking before shooting out an astral projection of his arm to unclip Yang and Weiss from their compromising position faster than nearly any of them could follow with the naked eye, "But it did take lots of practice..."

"Ooooh, and you got another star!" Nora stated, pointing at Jaune's shield at his side before holding a hand to her chin in thought, "Wait... _two_ more stars! You only had one star yesterday, and now you have _three!_ D'you get them from beating me? Is that like points for _whenever_ you beat someone!?"

"Kinda... yeah," Jaune noted as he idly sat in his bleacher, "But sometimes, not really."

"So how do you get more, then!?"

Jaune stared at his ever-happy teammate even in the face of defeat after she asked the question, then to her partner who surely suspected him for it, before glancing at the thankful faces of Weiss and Yang and across everyone else's with a small sigh.

"Like I said," Jaune noted as he looked back at his star-studded shield and then up at Nora with a wry smile, "Practice. Lots and lots... of _practice_..."

* * *

"Heck, _they_ weren't asking!" Jaune explained with both arms thrown up in exasperation, "Better to wait till the time was right, then. Right?"

"Hmm."

Jaune grunted with frustration at the Headmaster's noncommittal reply from across the table, the knight's foot tapping the floor with impatience.

"What was I supposed to do? The moment I tell them, they'll freak out! After that, I'll either be mommied away from any danger or shunned completely!"

"I'd say that sort of reaction should be for _them_ to decide," Ozpin finally noted, taking another sip of the dark brew in his mug that he realized hours after his declared caffeine sobriety was still a _very_ necessary requirement to running this kind of Academy, "I'm sure you would not wish to imagine your team dynamic upon realization that you have been holding something from them..."

"Uh... actually, I can..."

A raised brow from the Headmaster at the nervous leader's words.

"Transcripts."

"...Ah."

"Yeah," Jaune replied, his gaze set low and on the clockwork table between the two men as he continued, "And then there's Ruby's team. What if there's something that happens to them and I'm not around to know how it happened? I... wouldn't be able to reset it..."

"I'm sure such situations didn't cause them too much consternation the first time around."

"Yeah, but isn't this different?" Jaune noted as he looked up at the man's understanding gaze in question, "I mean, these are a _lot_ of repeats! I mean, it took a solid sixty loops to manage a perfect run on Nora! SIX-TY LOOPS."

"So... another two months through initiation?" Ozpin noted, his face no longer devoid of emotion as a hint of pity slipped through a crack in his mask, "That... must've been-"

"No no, it wasn't like that at all," the young leader interrupted, surprising Ozpin with how easily he seemed to brush it off before catching the pensive look on Jaune's face, "It kinda brings me to the other thing... I uh, I don't go back to the day before initiation anymore. After this morning, I just started looping back to the beginning of Glynda's class."

"I heard she was _especially_ humored at your usage of her familiar name in public."

"Don't remind me," Jaune retorted with an eye roll, though Ozpin's eyes never left the young Hunter-in-training.

"Nevertheless, is there anything that happened either today or yesterday that felt... different? At what point did you loop to?"

Jaune scratched the back of his head as he pondered the question aloud, "Ah, nothing really aside from the fact that initiation might've been forever changed into what we know now. But I guess the loop points are always the same just like they were during the first times; they're right when..."

At that, Jaune paused, his eyes brightening in realization at the Headmaster before holding up his finger in declaration, "Ruby! She was doing something screwy with my Aura!"

A raised brow from the Professor.

"Pyrrha was doing something similar around the time of my first loops, too!"

The raised brow's brother brow raised up to meet it.

"Except... no," Jaune's countenance began to deflate the more he thought about it, "On the first resets, I looped back pretty much a whole day before what Pyrrha did to my Aura, though. But what she did was the same..."

Jaune placed a hand on his chest and the other on his head in mimicking the motion, " _Exactly_ the same... no doubt about it."

"Then keep in mind that they may very well still be linked," Ozpin advised, gesturing at the knight pensively, "Possibly, temporal compensation for the amount of time crossed to the reset point at the moment of the first death after its creation... like a buffer."

"Hmm," Jaune noted, rubbing his chin in thought before mentally chastising himself for doing a very Ozpin-like thing; looking up, he grunted as he saw the older man's smirk before continuing, "I guess, it makes sense. Like that thing about water, hydrocohesion or something, that when you let a drop of water roll down on something, every following drop on the first spot will roll down the same path until a completely new spot is set... overcompensating might be a way for my Semblance to minimize the chances for screw-ups along the first trip back through the space-time continuum..."

"That's... a rather educated observation, Mister Arc," Glynda noted as she walked into the area and around the desk to Ozpin's side, the knight fixing her with a flat stare the entire time.

How he would've _loved_ to tell her that the rich depth of his knowledge in the realm of relativity could be credited solely and wholly to his love for X-Ray and Vav. But strangely enough, the comics were really rare these days... single-issue, high-priced collector's editions wrapped in fancy packaging with 'vintage' stamped all over them.

Heh, he remembered being able to buy dozens of the originals at a time for fractions of a single Lien!

"Glynda, thank you for joining us," Ozpin noted with a placid smile at his contemporary before it faded upon catching sight of Jaune's reaction, "Though I _do_ hope you both can settle your differences in the near future. The fate of our kingdom may very well depend on it."

"She caused me more pain than any other man, woman, or Grimm ever could, _and_ almost killed me."

"And he's a _fraud_ , Semblance or not," Glynda stated almost nonchalantly, which was likely why Jaune winced at the insult, "As for your notion of my 'almost killing you,' need I remind you that it likely no longer measures up in the least to the accomplishments now under Miss Valkyrie's belt of having _done_ the deed?"

"Both of you, please, bear in mind that a house divided against itself _cannot_ stand."

"I couldn't _stand_ after what she did to me," Jaune hedged with crossed arms at the man.

"And _I_ couldn't stand his sudden urge to defy authority in class, all to accomplish nothing more than gloat and wave his dic-"

" _Glynda_."

She too crossed her arms with a huff at the man, Ozpin sighing before taking a long sip of coffee and shaking his head, "It seems it really is true when they say 'you fight the most with the one most like you'."

" _I'm nothing like-!_ " Jaune and Glynda began simultaneously before catching themselves and glaring at each other intensely... a glare that softened after a moment, and finally fizzed down into a quiet pair of sighs.

"Good. That's a start," Ozpin noted after a moment of silence before clasping his hands together over the desk in front of him and directing himself at the student, "Mister Arc, now to the reason of your being here..."

"You mean, you hadn't even gotten to-" Jaune caught himself as he quickly glanced to the side away front the adults in thought, suddenly chastising himself that his plan to enter the office angry to reveal Ozpin's intentions for the experiment were nipped in the bud from the get-go, "You brought up my team from the start to keep me off-balance. Well played."

"Thank you," the Headmaster granted with a slight nod before continuing, "Though I did breach the topic I intended to speak of with you before Glynda's arrival. Mister Arc, what I wished to know, and wanted to have Glynda present to witness, was this... it took you _sixty_ attempts in order to work around Miss Valkyrie's fighting ability for a victory?"

Jaune paused, wondering if that was really the depth of Ozpin's _real_ question but deciding to bite the bait. After all, he stood to gain from it as well if they could find out anything about his Semblance that he might've missed.

"Well, yeah... and no," Jaune began, catching the curiosity of both adults as he continued, "Truth is, I was able to get Nora all the way to that standoff point in just over twenty loops."

"Then, what happened?" Glynda asked, Jaune catching the hint of disappointment in her voice as if taking so many more tries was wasteful inefficiency. But he wouldn't hold against her what she didn't know. Yet.

"Well, it's hard to explain," the student continued with a slight cringe, no doubt recalling the painful deaths that followed, "See, for the first time, even in light of what I dealt with during initiation... I felt... like I hit a dead end. Like, no matter how I tried to dodge, the moment Nora started launching her grenades... I was done for."

Ozpin and Glynda traded a brief glance of concern before the Headmaster muttered, "So your Semblance has its weak points, after all. Namely, attacks with wide area of effect."

...So that's why he'd picked Nora for the fight! Jaune blinked in surprise at the realization of the much more serious meaning under the experiment than he'd imagined.

"But then... how did you circumvent her offensive tactics?" the Deputy asked, curious upon recollection of the fight's ending. Jaune couldn't help a small smirk in reply.

" _Well_... that's where I had to get a little creative. After ten tries or so, I realized I just didn't _have_ a way to get around it at my disposal. Directly, at least. So I thought of what I had at my disposal _before_ the fight."

A raised brow from the disciplinarian.

" _Dust_. Nora's grenades run on it, and from what I remembered about my first timeline and yesterday's initiation, they're just frag grenades that detonate on contact. So... _Dust_. I thought about Weiss' blade, but I have no idea how to work that thing, so I doubt I'd get anything out of that. But then there's Ruby. Clips in her pockets that can be snatched if you're subtle... and fast... enough."

"And you became fast enough? Versus Miss Rose, of all people?" Ozpin asked with a hint of incredulity, reaching down for his mug before faltering at its no longer being there.

Looking up, he blinked in genuine surprise as he saw Jaune across the table... toasting at him with his own mug.

"Twenty-three tries. Most of 'em were just me shooting out my Aura from one arm until Glynda literally _pulled_ my butt into the ring. But I figured, if I can throw my Aura out fast enough to keep from falling in mid-air, I should be able to train it to snatch at a little mag. After a while, I started thinking of it like a punch. Whip forward, pull back. Five more tries, and I shaped it into my arm."

Jaune held up his other arm, making the picking gesture and inching it forward with a tick, much unlike the aural projection of his arm that snapped forward and back into his limb like a striking cobra. Ozpin leaned forward, smiling.

His regimen was indeed working on the young man, after all.

"Impossible," Glynda retorted hotly, "Hunters with _projection-specific_ Semblances take _decades_ to master those feats, yet a teenage student can figure it out in a matter of months!?"

"Actually, hours," Jaune corrected mousily, "With me looping back to minutes before the fight, I finished sixty loops in about seven... maybe _eight_ hours, tops."

For the first time ever, Jaune saw Glynda literally throw her arms up in frustration.

It was priceless.

"Bear in mind that he's no simple teenager," Ozpin observed before Glynda could boil over, "The total lifetime experience locked up in his psyche may very well outweigh that of the combined staff at this institution..."

" _That_ ," he continued, glancing at the muted teen with a declarative point, "And the fact that he's the _perfect_ user for the skill. Think about it - instinctively rethinking his approach in order to work around an impasse instead of facing it head on in futility? Perfect... it's _perfect_."

Both blondes stared at the man, not so much for what he said as much as at the unexpectedly proud grin on his face he had while he said it. Slowly but surely, Jaune narrowed his eyes at the man.

"Wait... this experiment wasn't even _just_ to find my weaknesses, wasn't it."

"No, no it wasn't," Ozpin noted with a small measure of triumph at the success of the experiment, "It was to gauge your strength as well. And mostly, your _potential_. Of course finding the potential for weakness is a part of it, but having seen your capacity for mental acuity under pressure is beyond promising - after all, a Semblance as versatile as yours would not be granted to one who naturally couldn't learn to use it efficiently."

"You... want me to lead," Jaune finally realized, flexing his hand which glowed in response before looking at the Headmaster in thought, "But-"

"But nothing," Ozpin cutting him off, Glynda paying attention as well as he elaborated, "You may have come to this school a young man without valid transcripts, yet you became a team leader before realizing even your _own_ potential. I would not have arranged for that, even if you were to be the savior of the kingdom, unless you possessed the _qualities_ to be a leader."

At that, the Deputy's face softened at the knight, turning to see Ozpin nodding at her in affirmation before she followed his train of thought aloud, "Then... you wished to validate the decisions of your initial timeline's self by finding a way to pit Mister Arc against an impossible situation... and to see how he handled himself in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds..."

"Precisely."

"So... I passed the test?" Jaune asked, still somewhat unsure of the direction this was going.

"That... remains to be seen," Ozpin replied, his smile still present though it took more of a knowing quality as he continued, "According to your memories, Remnant still needs saving after all. Therefore, Glynda, we may need to move a few lessons from our core curriculum forward. Beginning with the Forever Fall trip, if you'd like."

At Miss Goodwitch's nod, though interestingly reluctant, Ozpin turned to face the knight with a reassuring smile in conclusion, "Very well then, that will be all for today. You've earned yourself a good rest, Mister Arc..."

"Thanks, Prof," the young leader noted as he stood, about to turn away when Ozpin continued with less of a smile than before.

"...However, I trust you will place great care in timing when you reveal your ability to your peers. Time, can be a fragile affair; it's best to be handled with the utmost foresight."

"Well I got plenty of that," Jaune noted lightly, tapping his head, "Got it all up here, and I'm remembering more about the future every day that passes!"

Glynda simply shook her head, adding to her superior in an aside, "I told you... he's much yet to learn."

Thankfully, Ozpin didn't let the statement that was still said loud enough to be heard by the young leader simmer too long in the young man's confused mind before he noted, "Not precisely. Jaune... the future is never truly set in stone. I'm afraid it's such a fickle matter, that future events may change whenever you look at them due to little more than the simple fact that you looked at them at all."

Jaune made to open his mouth, only to have Glynda speak first.

"Tell us, Mister Arc... how aligned to your original timeline is the current one? Would you say looking into your ' _future_ ' has kept recent events faithful to history, or...?"

Jaune slowly closed his mouth, his lightly clenched jaw telling the Professors all they needed to know.

"Add to that the fact that you seem to have stumbled across a method of moving your reset point forward in time," Ozpin added informatively, "And you have yourself only further reason to tread carefully. Of course, we are still learning about your... unique... ability by leaps and bounds, and there may very well remain a method of selecting a prior loop point, but..."

"Don't screw with something I can't get myself out of," Jaune summarized shortly with a short nod, "Training, good; dead end, bad. Got it."

"Might I _strongly_ recommend the continued observance of my routine as well?" the Headmaster noted with a small smirk, causing Jaune's mood to rise a bit and reciprocate the action due to both the Headmaster's statement and his Deputy's evident ignorance to it, "I sense that it will work _wonders_ for your progress."

Giving him a nod and a good-natured eye-roll over his still-present smirk, Jaune took his leave with a wave at the two Professors. It wasn't until he was in the elevator and descending when Glynda glanced at Ozpin with a flicker of her previous reluctance on her features.

"Ozpin... Mister Arc is perfectly capable of handling class assignments and whatever else the core curriculum can throw his way without regard to when he faces them; why move the events-?"

"You said it yourself," the wizened old man noted as he looked up at her, her doubts fading at his following judgment, "In acting in accord with his original timeline, Mister Arc has likely already caused serious alterations to the flow of events. In short, I'd like to stay ahead of the actions our unknown assailants may take by preparing him as soon as possible, even if the very act of doing so alters events even further... you know as well as I do that James may very well decide to intervene at the first sign of instability in Vale. That would make maintaining operational control over these delicate matters much more... difficult."

The Deputy let out a strained huff at the mention of the General, immediately nodding in assent before responding, "Understood. I will begin making arrangements for the Forest Fall trip immediately."

Leaving the Headmaster alone with his thoughts and his caffeine, Glynda left the room as Ozpin turned on his seat to lean forward with both hands clasped under chin to survey the academy.

It was nearly ironic... Jaune had nearly infinite chances to undue his failures.

But this world... this vulnerable, struggling world? It hinged on only one.

It had no margin, no reprieve.

Life as they knew it depended on Jaune's success.

* * *

"I hear we're going on a field trip? Aren't those _fun_."

Catching ear of the voice that echoed along the derelict warehouse walls, the intended recipient groaned aloud as he clicked his comm device shut with an exaggerated eye-roll, "Ah _great_... She decided to send the kids early."

"Surely you've heard quite a few things are happening _early_ ," the third voice in the group noted as she air-quoted the final word with a mock grin, then pointing at the comm device with one of her revolver-sickles, "That was probably you getting the updated intel now."

"You know, I really love how you people call hearsay from disgruntled Bullhead pilots 'intel' as if it were _actually_ intelligence gathering."

"You know how Fall is, Roman. Sure, she _likes_ to play off surprises like nothing, but she _really_ doesn't like things she can't predict - or understand - or at least control... right, Em?"

"You said it," the mint-haired assassin concurred as she holstered her weapon with a quick twirl, "And you can sure bet that the sudden change of behavior from a future mark on the scale of a _Hunter Academy_ will catch her eye."

A cocked brow from the man in the bowler hat as he lit a cigar and lifted it to his lips, "Enlighten me, sweetheart."

Emerald scoffed with a small smirk before glancing at Mercury, who returned a nonchalant shrug before she continued, "We're talking about a time-honored institution that has kept the same curriculum and schedule for almost eighty _years_ , classes remaining the same even after the occasional untimely _death_ of its respective Professor. They just... hire a new one, I guess."

"Only difference being the yearly adjustments to their dinky initiation exams to discourage cheating," Mercury idly drawled, supplying the information as he picked out some grit under his fingernails before Emerald continued.

"And all of a sudden, they change up a yearly field trip during the first week of school..."

"Just after a particularly _interesting_ dinky initiation exam goes viral online..."

"Which raises more than a few questions as to _why_ they're making these adjustments for the first-year class on the eve of such an important year for their Academy..."

"Honestly, I'd just walk in there and waste the freshmen myself," Mercury stated matter-of-factly with a tight-lipped smirk at Roman before shrugging a single shoulder, "But being that Cinder's as curious as she is paranoid..."

"Oh, please," Emerald noted as she crossed her arms at her partner, "Big talk coming from a guy who knows nothing about his mark. Sure you don't wanna just take the first airship over and do the deed while you're at it?"

Mercury adopted a mock-serious expression as he retorted with a point at her, " _Hey_. If you're good at something, don't do it for free."

"Typical Mercury..."

"Yeah, and don't forget it. Even for you - no matter _how_ much you want me, I'd still have to charge. Though if you wear those cute little wolf ears I was telling you about the other day and leave your boots on, I might consider a discount."

A deadpan glare from the gunslinger.

"Oh you're no fun today."

"With the nagging coming from you two?" Roman finally noted, an evidently annoyed grimace on his face, "I'm surprised the Grimm haven't run over the city yet."

"You asked us why the timetables had been shifted," Emerald defended pointedly, to which Roman let out a short chortle.

"I _asked_ for you to 'enlighten' me, sweetheart. Ergo, how much you actually _knew_ about the situation," Roman retorted lightly, rolling his eyes as both mercenaries shot him level glares, "Like _where_ it's going to be in the forest and _who_ will be supervising. Yeah, I was on the line getting info, but I was way ahead of just gathering _'intel'_."

Mercury let out an exaggerated sigh, "Then enlighten _us_ , O Wise One."

"Be glad your mother has majority custody over you two," Roman warned with a twirl of his cane at the young merc, "But I was calling in a favor from a... trusted associate... whose club I forked over a pretty amount of Lien for after he went and got it blown up. No way I'm letting you two go out and screw things up this early in the game."

"But that's why we're _here_ ," Emerald noted with a threatening glower, though it did absolutely nothing to meddle with the criminal's mood.

"No disrespect, but the criminal mastermind does her job... so let me do _mine_. We need to test this class, not _kill_ them. Otherwise, how _else_ are we gonna find out what's so great about them other than their affinity for Michael Bay-ean stunts and explosions?"

The femme fatale rolled her eyes for the umpteenth at the smug thief, crossing her arms as she countered, "And you're _sure_ he can deliver?"

"Ah well, what his men lack in quality he can more than make up for with _quantity_... though, I might consider investing in a decent merc myself in the near future depending on the outcome of this little joint venture..."

"You're already _in_ a joint venture," Mercury drawled, raising both arms in the air as if he were pointing out that the sky was blue, "Whether by choice or not. You have plenty of goons at your disposal already, even if a few of them have horns and tails. Just don't go double-dipping where you can't talk yourself out of..."

"This coming from the big-head lackey trying to stick his 'little head' into the mint-chocolate embodiment of a _bad idea_. You should know better than to mix business with pleasure," Roman paused to give the nonplussed teens a wink, "Only _I'm_ allowed to do that."

"Please, spare us the thought of you procreating," Emerald huffed in disgust, though the residual light blush at the mention of her partner's intentions didn't go missed.

"Then by all means, do it yourselves!" Roman quipped in amusement, gesturing at each merc with his arms before exasperatedly bringing his hands together in a sign of copulation, "Cuz like I said, I ain't bringing you along for the field trip! If it doesn't affect the _grand plan_ , I don't see any reason to risk blowing your cover, that with you three planning to play pretend at that living teenage sitcom academy next semester. _My_ plan, _my_ goons, _MY_ head on the line if I bring you both along and things go south."

Both teens traded a brief glance in deliberation before turning back to face the master thief.

"She'll want a report," Emerald hedged with crossed arms, "Teams, their dynamics, and who their strongest are. Include Semblances wherever possible. We'll have to settle things that way until we have a more... _elegant_... method of accessing that kind of information in place. You best return with something she'll like if you're to disobey her direct order."

"Like you said," Mercury added with a malicious smirk, " _Your_ head... not ours."

Roman muttered to himself as he turned, waving it away but otherwise acknowledging Emerald's statement before walking out of the warehouse.

Both assassins merely stood there, standing side by side but looking in opposite directions within the large space before Mercury began quietly, "Wanna... go rob some Dust?"

"And make _that_ prick's job easier? Not a chance," Emerald retorted with a derisive laugh, a short silence settling in before she continued meekly, "Wanna... go track down White Fang runaways?"

"Meh."

And with his shrug that was immediately understood to his long-time partner in crime as one of assent, both mercs began walking out towards the warehouse entrance before he continued, "Though my _second_ idea that I'm currently leaning towards involves those wolf ears and boo-"

"Shut up."

"Seriously, Roman's idea wasn't so bad, either. We can easily find an ice cream store around here and smear some of that around your-"

" _Shut. Up_."

"Ohh, it'd be fun and you know it. Yeah, White Fang hunting is great and all - a little murder, a little mayhem, a couple o' laughs! - but it won't do you _any_ good corking yourself up like that. Oh! And we can get some whip crea-!"

" _Shut up shut up shut UP!_ "

"Fiiine."

" _Thank you_..."

"..."

"..."

"...Y'know, those _co-ed_ sleeping arrangements at that lame Academy must be fun."

"AAAAARGH!"

 _ **SMACK!**_

" _OW!_ I'm just sayin!"

"You're attacking my inhibitions!"

"Me!? _Never!_ I-I wouldn't!"

 _"rrrrrgh_..."

"Al- _right_... but you gotta admit it's true. I wonder how _intimate_ those team bonds must get at night..."

* * *

 _meanwhile, in a certain co-ed dorm..._

"I spy with my little-"

"Ceiling fan."

"Sheesh JC, you're just as good at this as Ren! Though I should've known with the whole mind-reading thing and all..."

"Nora, you're staring at the ceiling. Your only choices are _literally_ the air vent and the ceiling fan. _A blind dog with a coin_ has as good a shot of guessing right as I do."

A short silence fell upon the room as the four teens lay in their respective beds, each one staring up at the ceiling and its rotating ceiling fan before Nora broke the momentary peace.

"But what if I choose a speck of _dust_ on the ceiling? The possibilities are _endless_..."

"Not endless," Jaune countered flatly, a deadpan on his features even if no one could see it, "Because you would eventually count them. And when I say _would_... I mean _will_."

"...Ren."

"Yes, Nora?"

"He even knows my super-secret hobbies..."

"...Well they're not secret anymore, Nora."

The following silence was broken by the facepalm coming from Jaune's bed, Nora paying it no mind as she rolled onto her side and glanced at the slightly peeved knight with a grin.

"So, fearless leader, any guesses on how many specks of dust there are on the ceiling?"

Ren raised his own head from his pillow, giving his partner a well-meaning glare over a soft smile, "Nora, Jaune wouldn't-"

"There are one billion, sixty-five million, four hundred twenty-seven thousand, three hundred twelve and a half specks of dust on our ceiling."

Now Pyrrha raised her head from her own pillow, glancing at the knight who still had his arm draped over his face on his bed with a raised brow in vague amusement, "That... was rather specific, Jaune."

He sighed, his arm not moving before finally replying, "It's from a trusted source."

Pyrrha smirked at her leader's reaction while Nora chuckled in anticipation, the hammer maiden clearly rolling back on her bed and facing up at the ceiling to begin her feat of mental endurance. Ren, however, kept his gaze fixed on the unsuspecting knight even after Pyrrha had turned on her bed to get some sleep.

It wasn't wrong that Jaune acted the way he did. As a matter of fact, from what Ren could gather, he seemed to be the epitome of confidence, a great quality for a leader. _That_ was something he was personally just fine with; no need to complain about that.

But it seemed so... strange. Ren couldn't put his finger on it, and that simply wouldn't do.

"Jaune. A word?"

Slowly, the blonde knight removed his arm to cast a questioning glare at the stoic, knowing full well that the tone his teammate was using was usually reserved for the most grave of matters and would likely opt for some privacy, "Here?"

Ren thought about it, glancing at Nora and Pyrrha as he mulled it over in his mind. Not that he didn't trust them, but he wasn't sure what would come of this... and Nora usually heard more than she let on. He didn't doubt Pyrrha would be the same. Would Jaune have already guessed that as well - either from reading their minds, or worse, reading _his?_

That was a scary thought.

"I... don't know anywhere else we could go."

A short pause was followed by Jaune slowly swinging his legs over the side of his bed and onto the floor with a small grunt, "I do. Hey girls, me and Ren are going out for a bit. We won't be too long."

Motioning his head towards the door in indication, Ren followed Jaune's lead out of the room as Pyrrha replied from her own quarters without turning in her sheets, "Okay."

Nora didn't reply, her lips moving faintly as she simply continued counting, "Sixty-eight, sixty-nine, seventy..."

Once outside, Ren ensured to stay close by as Jaune strode through the halls, making no signs of hesitation despite the multiple turns through the dark corridors as if he'd lived there for ages... seeing that only served to strengthen the stoic's resolve. Not even two days in this huge campus, and this guy could find his way to the roof of their dorm building without a second thought.

But mind-reading couldn't get you somewhere no one else knew about.

As both teens stepped out into the open air, the stoic student feeling the nighttime breeze cascading around them as the pale green light from Beacon's clock tower lit the area around them, Jaune turned to face his teammate with an unusually neutral expression.

"So... what's up?"

Ren looked around to ensure privacy, noting that from their location, no lights were on through the windows of adjacent buildings or pedestrians present on the walkways below them. Likely due to Miss Goodwitch's well-known ability to enforce the curfew placed on first-years during the first few weeks at school.

He sighed, finally looking back to his leader before committing to quenching the curiosity he'd been holding in for long enough.

"So... about that trick the morning of initiation you said you'd share with me..."

* * *

 **A/N:** _So Ren beat Ruby to the punch! Or will he? Who knows..._

 _Speaking of which, I'm loving a lot of the predictions I'm getting from you reviewers - a lot of you are definitely making some very interesting ones as well! Like I said, I dropped a tiny easter egg early on. No one has claimed to find it yet, or told me at least, but if you don't find it... not to worry! I've projected this story to have somewhere between **20 and 25 chapters** , so it won't take too long to get to the end from this point!_

 _Unless you're reading this chapter right when I posted it, then you have to wait for me to post like 20 more chapters to get to the end. Sorry._

 _On a side note, Episode 6 of Volume 3 just came out of RWBY. And well... YANG! NUUUUUUUUUU!_

 _And on an even bigger note, there goes my plot that I thought was original! **NUUUUUUUUUU!**_

 _Ah well, it wasn't exactly my plot for this story (as Qrow so eloquently explained it in the episode, Jaune is a dude, after all...), mostly since RWBY isn't a time-looping, multi-shipping, world-ending, EasterEgg-crapping hodge-podge of badassery... well, the badassery is still there though, way over what I can accomplish here... but there were some similar elements. But meh, nothing's original anymore. Then again, neither are the 15 notes of the musical octave. But it ain't about the notes you use, it's about how you thread 'em together that makes the song a hit ;)_

 _But **not** like a pop hit single. Cuz then those get played over and over and over again by radio stations as if there were only four songs in the entire world. And then you hate that overplayed song's musical guts by the end of the week... * **ahem***_

 _But I digress._

 _On the date of **LDR's** first month anniversary (finally, a stroke of **good** timing for once!) we've cracked **100 reviews and 400 followers**. Dang. You guys are **awesome!** It's weird to say that this story is currently drawing me to it a tad more than my muse for **TGG** , so expect shorter updates on this end for now, though it seems to me that **TGG** is following me around to this one. People keep referring to Jaune's Semblance here with Gamer terms... o.O Though Ozpin didn't help much against that argument with his game comparison in the first chapters of this story. Ah well, he's gotta live with his missteps, and so do I._

 _On a much more random side note, did anyone else imagine Ozpin during the conference with Glynda and Jaune suddenly growing **MUCH** more bulky and muscley-er before declaring "NO! My plan goes even deeper!" like Esidesi from that JoJo anime? ...Just me? Oh... okay... *sad* And one more thing - **pairings**. Got em updated. Based on top 3 ladies in the poll. **Subject to change** if there's a strong enough shift in votes, though!_

 _In any case, remember to **Fave, Follow, and Review** to show your support - you guys have gotten me through my meager 15.5 months of writer's experience (all of it here on **FFNet** ), and I don't doubt the continued good vibes from you good folk will get me through many more! :D Until next time..._

 ** _And Happy Reading!_**

* * *

 _ **Live. Die. Repeat.**_

 _TPS (c) 2015, 2018_


	6. La Vie En Rose

**_La Vie En Rose_**

* * *

"So... what's up?"

Jaune watched Ren sigh, finally looking back at him before ending the momentary suspense for the blond, "So... about that trick the morning of initiation you said you'd share with me..."

Ahhhh, _great_.

Jaune immediately shook the notion of coming out with it all at once; it was too soon. _Way_ too soon. He knew Ren could observe things very well, but right now the stoic would just have to be content with getting stonewalled... if only for the time being.

"Hahhh," Jaune began with a drawn out chuckle, waving it off in an attempt to minimize its implications, "That? It was nothing! Nora... she practically reeked of maple syrup! Obviously, my guess for what a girl that hyper in the morning was thinking would've been something to do with food - that with the smell, she would probably choose waffles or pancakes! So see? Just an educated guess!"

Ren paused in thought, processing the information as he crossed his arms. Jaune had clearly shown an incredibly acute sense of deduction during their short time together, directing them during initiation with the skill of a leader who could quickly analyze his comrades' potential in different areas of combat as well. Still... it didn't explain everything.

"You knew her name without ever having traded a single word with her."

If the little hints before weren't enough to convince him that Jaune was hiding something, the way he visibly flinched at that certainly was.

"Yeah... _that_ ," Jaune began, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly with a nervous chuckle if only to stall for a precious few seconds as his mind furiously raced through viable options. Memories... memories... 'c'mon, anything useful would be _great_ right about now!' But settling on the memory of the aftermath of team JNPR's first real argument - the partitioning of the bathroom countertops - Jaune found his out in recalling Nora's nearly obsessive habit of marking her belongings, "I uh, I saw some of her... toiletries... spilling out of her sleeping bag earlier that morning when you two were packing up. I remembered her name because it was etched onto one of those little rock thingies you use to scrape the skin off your feet... with bright red lipstick."

Ren merely stared at Jaune for a moment with an unreadable expression, Jaune thinking that he wouldn't buy it until seeing the stoic cover his face with his palm and shake his head.

"This I believe."

"Well then, that settles that," Jaune noted lightly, adrenaline beginning to run through his veins in elation as he began making his way towards the roof door... that is, until Ren held out his other arm to stop him.

"But you're still hiding something."

Ahhhh, _great_.

"Wh-what are you talking about?" Jaune countered weakly, the plastered smile on his face likely more fragile than a glass case of eggs.

"Knowing Nora's fighting style, your familiarity with campus layout, countering the Semblance of a _Professor_... shall I continue?"

"..."

Aaaand, that glass case of eggs just got chucked into a tumble dryer set on HIGH.

Ren's deadpan softened, the student letting his gaze drop for a moment and closing his eyes with a silent groan before looking back up at the knight, "Jaune, I'd like to think you're a good person. I like you. I respect you... and I'd very much like to _trust_ you. All I ask is for you to help me do that."

Jaune took a step back, eyeing his teammate with a realization he felt more sad that glad of having had. He and Ren had never had a conversation like this the first time around in Beacon together... did that mean they never knew each other well enough to talk like this, or that Ren never even got to the point of respecting him at all?

Maybe Ren saw the look of growing consternation on Jaune's face and mistook it for concentration, but in any case, he held out an arm in placation, catching Jaune's attention with a rare hint of nervousness in his voice, "Jaune, look... n-now, the only other thing I ask is that this conversation be... _direct_... n-no need for mind-reading or thought-pushing of any sort..."

"Mind reading?" Jaune suddenly echoed incredulously at his teammate, his brows furrowing in momentary confusion, "Who said anything about _mind re_ -?"

The knight cut himself off with a facepalm instead, "You... actually _believed_ Nora when she called me a mind reader?"

Ren honestly faltered at the remark, drawing a blank as Jaune then turned up to face him inquisitively. His own features softening at the realization, Ren straightened up to regain his composure and continued, "Nora's observations may be whimsical, but they are rarely unfounded. Likewise, though the evidence supporting the theory was meager at best... it was still there. If the answer's so harmless, why be so elusive about granting a reply to such a simple _question?_ "

Jaune had seen Ren under many levels of duress. He'd seen Ren's stress levels upon taking a test, taking a hit, or taking on a caffeinated-Nora. But never... ever... had he seen the guy get so close to _upset_.

"I," the knight sighed, softly facepalming himself and dragging his hand down his face as he muttered, "...R'lly w'sh I could just _trace_ mah steps b'ck to where I w'nt wr'ng here..."

Losing Ren's trust for good would be just as bad as having lost Pyrrha's original level of support. It simply wasn't worth it.

Finally letting his hand drop as he decided to simply come clean, he was surprised to look up and see his teammate practically beaming at him.

"Uh... Ren?"

"You... You _Trace_."

A raised brow from the knight, "Do what now?"

Ren shook his head in muted elation as if he'd solved a crossword puzzle that had been troubling him for weeks, finally motioning at Jaune in indication, "Of course. The ability to figure out your way around an area and to understand others' fighting styles... you can Trace almost any object you touch and understand its makeup and history with Structural Analysis."

"Of, _course_ ," he repeated, taking a step forward to begin pacing with what Jaune might even dare to call wonder as he pondered aloud at the ground, "All you would've needed is to simply touch Magnihild, and its whole history of masters and techniques would've become known to you... likewise, naught but a brush against Miss Goodwitch's cape or weapon may have given you the Aural comprehension necessary to counter her Semblance... yes..."

"Um-"

Jaune's attempt to interject was cut short when Ren suddenly snapped his fingers and stopped pacing, pointing at the knight with a wide smile, " _And_ it explains how you could've analyzed the dust on our dorm ceiling fast enough as well as the path to this rooftop! Yes, I see now..."

Jaune's small smile was twitching at the corners of his lips in insecurity; he was supposed to be happy about this... right?

"You... do?"

"Yes, Jaune. I do," Ren noted warmly, moving forward and placing a hand on Jaune's shoulder, "Trace-type Semblances are among the top three rarest Semblance archetypes in Remnant - it's estimated that only ten to twenty-five Aura-wielders who unlocked their Semblances received it in all of recorded _history_. If the naysayers had it their way, Trace-type hunters-in-training would've been banned from the Vytal Tournament decades ago - imagine the unfair advantage going up against someone who could not only Analyze the structure of _any_ terrain the coliseum picks out to gain the upper hand, but could instantly understand the strengths and weaknesses of any opponent with little more than a passing touch!"

"You're... really eating this up, aren't you?" Jaune noted with a wry smirk, suddenly reneging on his last wavering desire to come out clean to the stoic in front of him who was currently being anything but, "I mean... I don't think I've ever heard you _talk_ that much at once before."

With a light chuckle, Ren took a step back, clearing his throat as he regained his composure for a second time that night before explaining with a slight nod, "Er, yes. I suppose I am... not much in this world catches my interest, but the destruction of Grimm and the further studies of Aura are certainly two of them. But I now understand your reluctance to come out about your Semblance... I apologize for prying, but you can trust me to keep your secret safe!"

Well, _crap_. As if the guilt couldn't get any heavier. It actually looked like Ren was looking _up_ to him now!

It was supposed to be the other way around!

"Heh... um, what about Nora?" Jaune countered, looking as bummed as Ren did elated.

"Though she's not the best at keeping secrets, she'd never do a thing to expose you in any way even if it meant sewing her mouth shut," he noted with a grin, "And that's saying something. She likes you as well."

"Wow, how nice..."

'Oh Beacon Tower... crush me now!'

"Of course, when and where to tell Pyrrha will be up to your discretion," Ren noted in an aside before giving his leader a reassuring smirk, "But I trust you'll know when is best to do so - Nora and I will support you every step of the way. Good night, Jaune. Sorry for the bother."

Never one to stretch a farewell, Ren simply waved at the knight before disappearing down the roof access door, leaving Jaune staring at the space in thought.

It'd be a lie to say that the thought of suicide didn't cross his mind - after all, several fake months of not lying directly to his closest friends about his transcripts had done wonders in mending his conscience - but only a single thought kept him from doing so.

Ren and Nora... they seemed happier than ever at the school - Nora had found a second 'Ren,' and Ren had found... Jaune could almost not bear to think it. _Hope?_ But, why? Was Aura that important to Ren? What'd he lose for the gaining of knowledge in the subject to become so important for him?

Jaune couldn't just try to erase this from ever happening... he owed it to his team to make things better, even if Pyrrha wasn't pining over his every iota of progress. After all - he didn't quite need the physical training anymore. He'd just have to focus on making things work between them until getting it back to the way things once were.

Once she began smiling at him like she once had during his first run at Beacon, Jaune would be satisfied! Maybe... just maybe... things would turn out better this time around. After all, the end result would have to have changed in order to save Vale, right? And it's not even like Ren's conclusion was that far off, either. Maybe all of this would be necessary for it to work, too!

Yes, nothing seemed too big to stop the young man's resolve, now! Not terrorism! Not Goodwitch! Not even-!

 _ **plat plat**_

Jaune's heart skipped a beat as he heard the unmistakable sound of a pair of feet landing on the roof ledge behind him, his fists already tightening as a grimace appeared on his face.

" ** _Cardin_**... I _should've_ remembered. I'm only going to say this once - if you think you can blackmail me with what you've just heard about my Semblance, _you've got another thing co_ -"

"Wow, Jaune. Never thought I'd hear you guess _wrong_... and I'm pretty sure anyone with a _Trace_ -type Semblance wouldn't have, either. You'd have sensed my Crescent Rose coming from a mile away..."

Frozen at the spot at the initial sound of the voice and the subsequent removal of all doubt at the mention of the weapon, Jaune finally mustered the strength to turn around and find a cross-armed Ruby glaring at him with an expectant pout. And it wasn't one of those 'cute' pouts, either.

"...or in this case, about ten feet."

Jaune gaped at the spot just behind where the crimsonette appeared and back at her, about to say something when she raised a finger to shush him and cut in sharply, " _Ah_. You lied again. I've seen Tracing in action before, and what _you_ do... that ain't it."

The knight visibly deflated, the breath he'd been holding in the whole time finally coming out in a long huff before responding, "You... you actually _know_ someone as ridiculously strong as that!?"

"Eh, he's not all that," Ruby noted with an eye-roll, though she was unable to hide the tiny smirk that inched his way on her features as she continued, "After all, he's just my uncle! If there's anyone who can figure out the way things tick, it's him!"

Huh. Then why wasn't _he_ killing himself over and over to make things right. _HM?_

Shaking the thought from his mind, Jaune finally glanced at her with a forlorn expression, "Well... sounds like he can do some great things."

"And so can _you_ ," she retorted, though not as angrily as one may say... _factually_ , before walking over and poking him right in the chest, "So spill it. What can you _really_ do. You wouldn't have let Ren walk away so happy unless it was at least _close_ to the truth."

A raised brow from the knight, " _Now_ who's trying to figure out who ticks? OW!"

A much stronger prod to the chest with the butt of Crescent Rose, whipped out from behind her with impressive speed. Needless to say, Jaune found himself on his own butt in the next second.

" _No jokes!_ You're not off the hook yet! You don't get to make me laugh until you make me feel better!"

"That doesn't even _*cough cough*_ make any _sense_..."

Jaune struggled up to his feet to see Ruby leveling him with a predatory glare and smirk as she held out her scythe at him at the ready, "I haven't seen anyone fight like you did against Nora for a long time - it's not every day you see a guy whose body's as fast as his eyes. You'd see her coming..."

Ruby took a slice out the air as she mimicked Jaune's motions with his sword, "and WHAM, you were there! Another swing," _slash_ , "And BAM, you were there!"

"I sound _nothing_ like that," he began with a deadpan before the blade was threateningly held up in his direction, forcing him to hold up his hands in surrender with a small smile, "Though it's a faithful representation!"

"So how do you do it, huh? You said it isn't mind reading. So, Telepathy?"

"Same thing."

"Whatever. Super reflexes? Time dilation?"

Ruby's face softened a bit at seeing Jaune flinch at the last one, cocking her head to the side in curiosity as she lowered the scy-fle she still had raised at him, " _Time dilation?_ "

He seemed to think about it for a moment before replying with a smug smirk upon noticing her lowered guard, "I _wish_. But time dilation wouldn't help much against a speedster, would it. Nope, no way. I _especially_ wouldn't be able to do _thiiiiiis_ - _ **aha!**_ "

And in the blink of an eye and a flash of light, Ruby found herself disarmed, the scythe held in the Aural projection of Jaune's arm that snapped Crescent Rose back to his real hand.

"... _Heeeeeeeey!_ "

The poor girl zipping over in an attempt to snatch it back, no such luck was had with Jaune shifting the weapon just out of her reach at comparable speeds with his Aural projections while she demanded, "Give!" _fft_ "That!" _fft_ "Back!" _fft_ "You!" _fft_ "Big!" _fft_ "Meanie!"

" _Guh_ ," was all Jaune replied when she unexpectedly sent an uppercut into his gut, only for him to straighten up a bit with a curious glance through the small storm of rose petals around him at the huffing and puffing girl, "Eesh, Ruby. You really gotta hit the weights or something - I've felt _pillows_ hit me harder than that."

 _fft!_

And in the blink of an eye during the lowering of his own guard, Jaune quickly found Crescent Rose's blade about an inch from his neck as the same girl now gave him an amused deadpan.

"...Or not."

"Now _what_ did I tell you about wasting Aura," Ruby stated pointedly before motioning at the wisps of Jaune's cloudy white Aura around them that slowly settled towards the ground like the rose petals from her own Semblance, "You're leaving it all over the place! _Last_ thing you want is for all of it, to... scatter..."

Jaune watched the girl go from petulantly upset to... utterly somber, walking towards her and placing a hand on her shoulder as she let Crescent Rose's head rest on the floor between them.

"Hey... you told me once that you knew people who'd used all their Aura too fast before."

A slow nod from the crimsonette, the knight deciding to walk her over to the ledge where they could sit.

"Wanna talk about it?"

A brief pause... but eventually, another nod as each leader took a seat on the ledge. Being that it was reasonably wide, Jaune swung his legs over so that his legs were hanging off the side of the building, and Ruby emulated the action, unwittingly leaving their shoulders only about an inch apart in the process.

"So... I know I made it sound like it was a lot of people on that list and stuff," Ruby began quietly, looking down over the edge of the building instead of up at Jaune which was fine due to the nighttime silence surrounding them, "But it was really just one. My mom."

Once again, the beginning of what Jaune was now pretty sure he'd never heard before.

"Your mom... was a Huntress?"

"Yeah," she began, looking up across the dark landscape that the distant view over the Beacon Cliffs afforded them with a dream-like wonder in her eyes, "She was. My mom, slayer of monsters and baker of cookies!"

"Must've been nice," Jaune noted, wishing at that moment to have even an inkling of a memory about his own mother, "What happened?"

"Eh, well. She went out on a mission. Big extermination up north, almost at the tip of Vytal. Atlas might've taken care of it, but she was the highest-ranking Huntress in the area," at that point, Ruby glanced at Jaune with a warm smile in the emotion of the memories, "And she _wasn't_ about to head on back while monsters like that were threating fields and villages! And with a Semblance like _hers_ , _no one_ was about to argue with her!"

Jaune couldn't help but finding himself reciprocating the smile, he couldn't believe how contagious it could be when coming from Ruby! Nonetheless, he relaxed a bit, leaning just a little closer to her as a result while she continued, "But whoever reported the infestation must've gotten something wrong. Instead of a single massive Grimm... there were hordes over hordes of younger ones rolling over the area. Same overall rank mission, but everyone knows that hordes that big should be taken out with _teams_ to be safe..."

Realizing that the climax of the story was drawing near as he noticed the edges of the girl's incredibly silver eyes beginning to glaze over, not surprised when she leaned the rest of the way over to rest her side on his shoulder before concluding, "But she went alone, anyway. They said that of the estimated five hundred Grimm she must've encountered, so many she killed that they were still evaporating hours later for them to count, less than a dozen were found the next day in the area that had survived... They found her among the heaps of disintegrating Grimm flesh around her."

Jaune blinked at her, suddenly finding his own eyes stinging a bit imagining what the news must've been like for her family, "I'm... I'm _so sorry_."

But instead of a response, instead of an 'It was a long time ago,' Ruby merely wrapped her arm around his and squeezed it tight, her cheek pressed against his shoulder.

"But what they found, Jaune. What they _found_... was that she was never killed by Grimm. Aside from a few scratches, she was still in one piece..."

"So..." he began, furrowed brows as he turned to face the girl who turned her own gaze so that he could barely see her glimmering grey orbs over his shoulder.

"Aura Exhaustion, Jaune. She gave her all for the life she wanted us to live," Ruby noted, finally seeming to have reigned in her emotions as she propped her chin on the knight's shoulder now while looking at the green tower in the distance, "But she had the bad habit of getting carried away with how much Aura she used at once... and that day, it came back to finish her off."

"Wow, I... I never knew that about your family," Jaune finally stated, still reeling a bit from the full emotional weight of the story, "Man, I feel like a jerk for not having known that before..."

Not even bothering to lift her head, Ruby just pivoted her gaze to him over her chin on his shoulder before replying to ease the situation, "You don't have to beat yourself up about it, we've only known each other for three days... besides, you look kinda ugly when you get all mopey."

"Ohooooo," Jaune retorted in a long, fake laugh, lightly nudging Ruby's side in retaliation now that the tension was going away, "Me being _ugly_ when I'm mopey implies I look pretty _good_ on other occasions. Is _that_ what you're saying?~"

"..."

"Uhm, why are you doing that?"

"Mm, no reason," Ruby noted, her voice muddled being that she'd completely hidden her face from him by hiding it behind his shoulder, "You're warm, by the way. I hope you don't mind me using you as a human windbreaker. Or think I'm weird."

"Nope," Jaune retorted amiably as he cast an idle glace over the landscape, already used to the weight all but grappling itself to his side, "You wouldn't be the Ruby Rose I've always known otherwise..."

He immediately shut his eyes as he cursed himself for his mistakes. Those slips of the lips would have to stop on the pronto!

Thankfully, Ruby only lifted her head to prop her chin on his shoulder again with a neutral expression, "Aaaand there it goes again. Talking like we've known each other for _eveeeeer_... are you gonna tell me why? Please? Even if you were like someone I knew since childhood who got facial reconstruction or Dust surgery, I'd forgive you! ...Maybe. Depends who you turn out to be."

Jaune shot her a deadpan, the girl scooting back from him and straightening up in her own space with a soft sigh, "Jaune, I already told you what I thought about you yesterday. Truth is, I think... I think you've got what it takes to change things. Like, _really_ change things!"

He couldn't help a grin at the young girl, both at the sincerity of her words and at the blush building in her cheeks as she said them.

That... and the fact that Vale's survival - and possibly more - kinda depended on them being true.

Now looking over the edge again as she started idly kicking her legs, Ruby added in quiet bits and pieces, "And um, once you start changing... you know, everything wrong with the world... I'd uh, like to be there... changing it with you..."

Suddenly, the chilly night didn't feel so cold. Jaune felt everything in him relax, his mind's concerns ebbing away as his body's tensions felt like they were releasing. He only noticed the profile of her face - the glint of emotion in her eyes, the rosy pink in her cheeks, and even the slightest trembling on her bottom lip - and couldn't help a grin at his sudden revelation.

'So this is what melting on the inside feels like...'

Nevertheless, the crimsonette was somewhat surprised to hear the reply to her request come with a hand held in front of her.

"Okay," Jaune began, Ruby turning up to look at him with growing excitement, "But there's something I wanna try first. Top me up?"

Glancing at his hand and then back at him, Ruby nodded with a wide smile as she took his hand in both of her smaller ones, "Sure!"

Jaune let his eyes shut as Ruby did her thing, feeling his Aura ebb and flow as he tried to sense anything that might serve as indication of his Semblance reacting to her actions. Instead, he felt... _Ruby_. Red, red everywhere. But not red as in anger, though it was indeed an endless undulation of turbulent gusts of color. Searching, searching, toiling for something it may never find. But nowhere in the moment he had to sense the essence of this young woman did he feel disillusion... no, just joy. Joy in the boldest of ways, glee in the boldest of ways... _life_ , in the boldest of ways. Things may not have always been sweet in this young woman's life, but that would do absolutely nothing to keep her from living it to it's fullest!

Yes... Red was an appropriate color for this little Rose, indeed.

"Jaune... Jaune?"

Her murky voice finally brought him back into the realm of consciousness, Jaune noting the white glow from his body still fading as she asked with a nervous concern, "Did I... do anything wrong?"

"N-No," the knight replied, giving her a small goofy smile as the whirl from the emotional transfer was still subsiding, "But we _definitely_ gotta do that again sometime..."

"Silly, we've already done it like, _three_ times," she began, a small blush forming on her features as she caught her double entendre, "Hey, s-stop smiling at me like that, it makes me feel all _gaaarfarfafargh_ -"

"Huh?"

Jaune blinked himself back into the moment when he saw Ruby pull her hood over herself in her awkward moment, cocking his head to the side as he cautiously reached forward and poked her twice on the side. No reaction.

"Kay, Ruby... now you're just exaggerating."

A long series of garbled mumbles from the girl. Two more pokes. Slightly harder.

"C'mooon... I gotta tell you about my Semblance already."

A minute adjustment to the hood before a single eye from behind it peered up at the knight, the knight in question waving at her before she straightened up with a nonplussed grunt, "Fine. What is it."

"So hostile," Jaune joked with a smirk before noting, "But it's too hard to explain, so instead of telling you... I'm gonna _show_ you."

A raised brow from the crimsonette in curiosity, though she still kept mostly huddled into herself, "Fine. _Show_ it to me, then."

Now Jaune raised a brow as he watched the girl groan with a re-reddening of her cheeks; sensing her Aura apparently didn't do much to help guess what was going on in her _mind_ , "Well... I was gonna ask, what's one thing about yourself that people can't guess when they see you? Nothing too personal, but the more difficult to guess, the better it'll be."

"Hmm," she hummed, extracting herself from the wraps of her cloak to Jaune's relief and pouting pensively at the air before replying, "Well... I, like listening to Ska Punk music a lot..."

Jaune deadpanned, giving her outfit a once over before glaring at the curious girl, "Ruby. I meant something about you that's actually _difficult_ to guess."

Her eyes slightly widening in realization, Ruby scoffed before smacking him on the shoulder, " _Fine_ , meanie! Um... I got nuthin..."

"Hmm... your mom. What was her name?"

"Oh. Well, her name was Summer. Summer Rose."

Jaune took a moment to register the name and nod at the crimsonette with a reassuring smile. It was a pretty name... the person it belonged to must've been just as nice, if Ruby's description was anything to go by. Taking a brief glance over the edge of the roof, he glanced back at Ruby.

"Thank you. Now close your eyes."

"Um..."

"Rubyyy..."

Ruby relented to his pointed gaze, doing just so, "Fiiine..."

"Perfect! Now count to three."

"One... two..."

By the time Ruby had hit three, Jaune had already stood up, taken a running start, and chucked himself off the roof.

He didn't have too much time to think on his way down, but Jaune couldn't help brushing by the thought of what happened after his passing in the prior timelines. Sure, they could keep going, but so many possible courses of history created by just one kid? And if others had received a similar Semblance before him? After all, Ren did imply that Semblances fell into certain archetypes. Speed-types, strength-types, etc. Some types were just very rare, none were precisely unique...

Ah well, that'd be a thought for another time. Right now, _Jaune Arc was proving a point!_

 ** _SPLAT!_**

* * *

"Jaune... Jaune?"

Her murky voice finally brought him back into the realm of consciousness, Jaune noting the white glow from his body still fading as she asked with a nervous concern, "Did I... do anything wrong?"

"No," the knight replied with a small smug smile as the whirl from the emotional transfer was still subsiding, "But we _definitely_ gotta do that again sometime..."

"Silly, we've already done it like, _three_ times," she began, a small blush forming on her features as she caught her double entendre, "Hey, s-stop smiling at me like that, it makes me feel all _gaaarfarfafargh_ -"

Jaune's smile only grew into a grin. That level of adorkableness from a reaction was just _too_ good not to watch again. With an audible sigh, he then leaned forward to give Ruby's side a good few pokes before speaking up.

"C'mooon... I gotta tell you about my Semblance already."

A minute adjustment to the hood before a single eye from behind it peered up at the knight, the knight in question waving at her before she straightened up with a nonplussed grunt, "Fine. What is it."

"So hostile," Jaune joked with a smirk before noting, "But it's too hard to explain, so instead of telling you..."

He leaned back and cleared his throat, causing the hooded leader to extract herself from her cloak to watch him with curiosity.

"Ahem! Your mother's name is Summer Rose. She's _your_ mom, not Yang's - but you both have the same dad, Taiyang Xiao Long. Your Uncle Qrow taught you how to use a scythe, which you used last year against a huge pack of Beowolves - the first time you ever encountered Grimm. You like Ska Punk, you hate Vale Country, and even though you scarf cookies down to a fault, you love strawberries just as much," he paused a bit just to enjoy her expression of growing shock and awe before he continued, "And finally: that is your _twelfth_ version of Crescent Rose, you and Weiss just made up after your fight today when she brought you coffee - with cream and five sugars, as always - to your brand-new bunk bed..."

Jaune leaned over to whisper in Ruby's ear, the girl still stiff as a log while he finished, "And you're currently wearing _cotton pink underwear_."

"GYAH!" Ruby finally snapped in fright, unwittingly kicking the now-screaming Jaune off the roof.

"AW, _C'MOOoooonnnn_...!"

"..."

 _ **SPLAT!**_

* * *

"Jaune... Jaune? Did I... do anything wrong?"

Aside from the fact that the last loop resulted in being kicked off a roof, the mere thought of such a stupid way of dying stunning him for just long enough to make it come true...?

"No," he began, trying to keep himself from laughing at the irony before sticking to his previous spiel, "But we _definitely_ gotta do that again sometime..."

"Silly, we've already done it like, _three_ times... hey, s-stop smiling at me like that, it makes me feel all _gaaarfarfafargh_ -"

Hehe, seriously. Accidental murder aside, that was _still_ priceless.

Poke. Poke. _Pokepokepokepokepoke_...

" _C'mooon_... I gotta tell you about my Semblance already."

A minute adjustment to the hood before a single eye from behind it peered up at the knight, the knight in question waving at her before she straightened up with a nonplussed grunt, "Fine. What is it."

"So hostile," Jaune joked with a smirk before noting, "But it's too hard to explain, so instead of telling you..."

He leaned back and cleared his throat, causing the hooded leader to extract herself from her cloak to watch him with curiosity.

"Ahem! Your mother's name is Summer Rose. She's _your_ mom, not Yang's - but you both have the same dad, Taiyang Xiao Long. Your Uncle Qrow taught you how to use a scythe, which you used last year against a huge pack of Beowolves - the first time you ever encountered Grimm. You like Ska Punk, you hate Vale Country, and even though you scarf cookies down to a fault, you love strawberries just as much," he paused a bit just to enjoy her expression of growing shock and awe one more time before he continued, "And finally: that is your _twelfth_ version of Crescent Rose, you and Weiss just made up after your fight today when she brought you coffee - with cream and five sugars, as always - to your brand-new bunk bed..."

Jaune suddenly faltered, blinking before flashing Ruby a nervous grin, "Aaand, that's it... heh..."

She merely gawked at him for a few seconds more before regaining some semblance of speech, "How... did... you..."

"Look, Ruby, what I'm about to say," Jaune paused, scratching the back of his head in momentary discomfort before glancing at the engrossed teen beside him, "I'm not sure I'm ready to share with anyone else. Promise not to tell, at least for now?"

An eager, though somewhat still awestruck, nod.

"The reason why I know all this about you... is because you've told me before."

A raised brow from the girl, her concentration evident as she clearly tried to reach an educated guess, "So... we _did_ know each other before?"

Jaune shook his head, "No, I don't mean before Beacon. I mean, _right here_. Almost a dozen times... eleven, to be exact."

"H-How...?"

"Ruby... my Semblance lets me travel through time," Jaune stated resolutely, as it was pretty rehearsed by now, but unsure how to take the new sight of Ruby's jaw going more and more slack by the second, "We've _literally_ had this conversation almost a dozen times now... along with countless others that let me figure things out about you that happen - or _happened_ \- after initiation."

As she mentally verified his reply as an explanation for his previous slip-ups, letting the information process in as mature a way Ruby thought that kind of reveal should be handled, she promptly went with the most logical response she could come up with... _questions_ , "So there's even more about me you know that you haven't said yet? Like, stuff that happens later in our lives? How far ahead does what you know go?"

"Whoah there, speedy," Jaune cautioned, holding his arms out placatingly at the excited girl, "Yeah there is, though I'm not sure anything I know goes past a few months from now. I'd tell you, but there's a chance that by just telling you... it changes what or how it happens. And, that might not be a good thing..."

"Huh," she noted idly, pouting in thought and missing Jaune's expression as his gaze dropped at his last words, "That kinda makes sense."

He glanced at his hand, raising it as he coalesced enough of his Aura into it to make it glow a soft white, "Yeah. Fun stuff, but I'm still figuring most of it out, though. Like how somehow... whenever we do that Aura thing together, I can loop back to _that_ point in time whenever I want... not that I always _prefer_ that option, though..."

Ruby winced a bit as she finally saw the complicated expression the knight made at those words - regret, animosity, disdain... even a hint of melancholy.

"Does it... does it hurt when you do it, Jaune?" she asked meekly, drawing the knight's gaze away rom his hand and towards her.

He figured she might ask that eventually, telling himself that he'd stop asking her for fun-facts as soon as she did since she'd only expressed disbelief by this point every loop prior. He'd also spent quite a few tries thinking about what he was going to do once they reached this point.

"Yeah... it does," he finally sighed out; about to say more, he suddenly stopped himself instead.

No, this was where he'd draw the line, at least for the time being... he just hoped Ruby would understand.

"And this... this is the first time? That I'm asking _this_ question?"

Jaune couldn't quite place the expression on the girl's face as she asked the question, or why she asked it... but he nodded slowly in response. For once, he was telling the full truth. And it felt pretty good.

Needless to say, it was still a little surprising when he suddenly felt two small arms wrap themselves around him tightly.

"Thank you," she finally stated, a wide smile on her face as she nuzzled her head in his chest, "For telling me. That's an amazing ability, Jaune... and I get why you wouldn't exactly want to tell people that you're technically from the future, especially if it hurts you to use your Semblance just to prove it. But I believe you... there's just one thing, though..."

The two slowly pulled apart, Jaune surprising himself further at his internal desire to stay held in that embrace if at least for a second longer, "What."

"You said we'd had this conversation eleven times before now. But you only said _ten_ things about me."

Jaune chuckled, if at least to repress the groan coming up at the memory as he idly tapped his fingers on the ledge, "Yeahhh... see, what happened the tenth time was that I accidentally tickled you when I poked you in the side to get your attention. It helped your mood, but then you retaliated. There was a brief tickle war, and when I finally won, I dared you into telling me something no one could _possibly_ guess about you today to get you to cooperate with me. Turns out... your reply was _too_ personal, even for _you_."

A curious glance from the crimsonette.

"Nope. Not telling."

 _Poke_ , "Please?"

"No."

 _Poke_ , "Please?"

" _No_."

 _Poke_ , "Please?"

"Fin-"

But before Jaune could cave at the intensifying puppydog-look, a sharp sound from below them caught their attention. The door of the dorm Ruby had climbed to the roof from was slamming open.

"Woot! Got the booze! Oh yeah!"

" _Shut it_ , Thrush! You want the whole dorm to hear or what!?"

"At least Bronzewing's Semblance is good for something _other_ than sniffing out Grimm from a distance, hehe... ey. Did someone come in here while we were out? Wha- _all the cookies in the fridge are gone!_ "

Jaune deadpanned at the voices. He should've known.

Without a moment to lose, both leaders made their way back down from the roof if at least to avoid detection; apparently, the fact that the roof was _no place_ to hold a private conversation cut both ways. At least this time, _Jaune_ would be the one holding the blackmail card if the need ever presented itself.

But narrowing his eyes at a suddenly adorably-nervous Ruby as they stopped a few feet down the hall from the front of their dorms, he just had to add insult to injury, " _So_... am I to add 'Breaking and Entering' to Ruby Rose's mysterious list of skills?"

Placing her hands on her hips defiantly at the reversal of her words, she narrowed her eyes at him mockingly in return, "Sure, as soon as we finish adding 'Screams Like Girl When Riding Nevermore' to _yours_. _I_ bet you dress in pink when no one's looking~"

Ignoring her subsequent action of sticking her tongue out at him, Jaune readied his scroll for quick-scan room entry as he slowly took a step towards his dorm, "Nah, I think you got the pink department covered... I recall you mentioning the _pink cotton panties_ you're currently wearing are pre-tty, darn, _comfortable!_ "

Frozen in place as she watched Jaune dash to his dorm with a mischievous parting wave in the blink of an eye, Ruby's knees began to wobble as realization dawned on her before pulling her hood over her face to squee into her cloak.

* * *

 _one week later..._

"You seem a lot less... _barfy_ today, Vomit Boy."

Jaune crossed his arms with a slight huff as he sat across team RWBY in the Bullhead alongside his own team, the remaining first-year teams strapped into nearby seating areas as Glynda stood in place by the cockpit of the craft - telekinetically locked in place, of course, as she supervised the pilot's choice of landing area in Forever Fall.

"I guess I got used to flying."

"Seriously?" Yang noted incredulously with a cocked brow.

Crossing her arms with a much more noticeable effect as Jaune's glare didn't diminish from her challenging tone, Yang narrowed her eyes at him with a smirk as her sister beside her tuned in to their conversation. Weiss was performing a final equipment-check on Myrtenaster, and Ruby had just given up on starting a conversation with the book-bound Blake for the day.

Where that girl even _placed_ those books whenever she wasn't using them was beyond her comprehension.

"Okay, so you're telling me that after just _one_ Bullhead ride, you've been 'cured'? C'mon, Jaune, you were as green as Ren's _coat_ when we met you."

Jaune casually shrugged, Ruby's eyes narrowing at him in question as she put two and two together upon seeing his current demeanor. He was sure to shoot her the briefest of knowing smirks before directing it to the brawler.

"Who says it's because I was airsick? For all you know, I just ate something that didn't agree with me that day."

Come to think of it... for all _Jaune_ knew, he'd never recalled being airsick _before_ his first day at Beacon. Which was strange, considering that flight seemed to be the only way of getting further than a few city blocks these days.

Could it be that he'd never actually flown before? In what world would that even be _possible?_

"Yeah Yang, sometimes you can't assume what someone's going through by just looking at them," Ruby supplied innocently enough, causing the elder blonde to eventually deflate in defeat. Of course, the statement was followed by a similar knowing smile that Jaune couldn't help reciprocating while Yang wasn't looking.

Sure, it had taken a few days for Ruby to look at him directly after their little incident by the dorms, but it was worth it. Revenge was sweet, and the next days went smoothly enough as he continued his training regimen and went to class as he had once before.

And he hadn't _died_ , so... that was a plus.

Happening to glance at the brawler, Jaune now realized that Yang wasn't looking at him and Ruby anymore because of the increasingly animated conversation happening beside him.

"Got it. I got it!" Nora declared speculatively, "How about... _SSUTAAAA PRACHINAAAAM!_ "

Blinking at the rather lively hammer maiden a few feet away from him as she raised a finger over her head during the exclamation while bouncing in excitement, and trying not to notice her bouncier features... well, _bouncing_ , Jaune merely glared to where her partner would likely be sitting on her other side.

"Ren?"

The stoic in question merely leaned forward on his seat against the resistance of the seatbelts to meet Jaune's gaze.

"I believe the most direct translation would be: _Star Platinum_."

"Yeah," Nora noted gleefully as she turned to face her fearless leader, "We _gotta_ come up with a cool catchphrase for you especially after the way you _crushed_ team CRDL earlier this week! You got stars on your shield and your Aura makes you look like platinum when you spin so fast like you did for your final attack... so, Star Platinum!"

Oh, and yeah. Jaune had faced all of team CRDL in one of Glynda's evil plots of retaliation during her combat class... which he was _extremely_ pleased to say hadn't cost him a _single_ life.

Jaune almost facepalmed at the thought - Monty help him stop thinking of his Semblance using gaming terms. Ah well, maybe it was the price of being all but immortal. Oh, the games we play...

But yes; turns out, his muscle memory from going head to head against a bludgeoning weapon like Nora's had done swimmingly in keeping him going toe to toe against the mace-wielder who was built like an ox. Add to that his recollection of how Pyrrha had once dispatched the four of them with the appropriate flair of a Mistrali champion - basing his final attack on Cardin on a mix of Pyrrha's final spinning grapple against the same student with his finishing move on the Taijitu - and he had every tool at his disposal to take them out as well. Sure, they were uncoordinated... and he was pretty sure Russell was experiencing a hangover... but when Pyrrha gave him a pat on the back in the end with a 'I couldn't have done it better myself,' Jaune had to admit he felt pretty darn proud of himself.

He'd always looked up to her... maybe during the past week, he was managing to get them back to where they once were...

But for the time being, there was a very excited Nora to attend to.

"I dunno, Nora," Jaune noted pensively, "Strangely enough, I kinda see that one working out more for Yang, if anything."

The brawler shrugged as if almost willing to consider the notion, Nora returning to her previous thought process with a hand to her chin in determination.

"Okay... well, gotta keep the same color scheme here, so how about," another exclamatory pose, bouncing included, " _SHILVAAAA CHARYOTTUUUU!_ "

A sigh from her partner, "Silver Chariot."

Maybe it was just in Jaune's head, but everyone - including Blake - simply glanced at Weiss as she popped in the last Dust cartridge in her distinctive lance-like rapier, the heiress in question simply looking up at them all before returning a scoff with an eye-roll to their joint implication.

"Actually... I think 'Purple Hermit' would be _perfectly_ fitting, considering his ability to be notoriously precise in locating his opponents and ascertaining their abilities."

Jaune paused in thought, the girls and Ren turning to face the unexpected source of the phrase, "Pyrrha, I don't even wear any pu-"

Catching himself, he then glanced directly at the smug Mistrali, realizing they'd been inadvertently making references to a show that Pyrrha and Jaune had convinced their team - and even team RWBY on some nights - to binge-watch over the past week.

Hunters using personified Semblances handed down to them from their Aural predecessors to combat an ancient Evil... whether or not the lore-based story had any truth to it, like the Old Man fairytale it was based on, was anyone's guess.

"You sneaky devil."

Pyrrha's grin grew wider as Jaune chuckled after his rebuttal, both because of her perceived notion that he - like the Hermit Hunter - could 'picture' the fighting styles and Semblances of their peers, and because of the actual truth in the fact that his ability did indeed entail such images. From the future. Ren had also made Jaune privy to the fact that Pyrrha had begun suspecting the knight's Semblance to be some form of Tracing a day or so after his beatdown of CRDL. Figures.

Pyrrha and her hints, man. Pyrrha and her hints.

Jaune was just glad she wasn't like that in their _original_ timeline together.

Mostly because a few weeks of _that_ could only end in disaster, and that was judging by today's example alone. And as he glanced over in team CRDL's direction to see a particularly miffed Cardin scowling at him, Jaune could only postulate that _this_ particular day was just getting started...

So as the craft landed and the side doors opened to reveal the plethora of blood-red leaves rustling in the wind throughout the fantastical landscape, Jaune shrugged with the thought that overall, the prior week had been a pretty good one. So as it was teams JNPR's and RWBY's turn to get unbuckled and follow Glynda out of the Bullhead, Jaune turned to Ruby with a light nudge to the crimsonette's side.

"Hey Rubes... mind a quick top up? You know, for good luck."

She cocked her head at him in curiosity, "But we just got here, why would you...?"

Her voice trailed off in realization as both leaders made it to the threshold of the Bullhead, the remaining teams congregating around the Professor a ways away from the ship as Ruby readied her Aura. Jaune may have been half-aware of the fact that Ruby didn't even need his following explanation anymore.

But for the pun's sake...

"Yeah. Let's just say I've got a pretty good feeling that today's gonna be a little... _loopy_."

* * *

 **A/N:** _Garrr... puns. Too bad Yang wasn't there for that one. Not that she'd have gotten it._

 _Though even Weiss caught on to the references in the Bullhead... I'd honestly believe it if RT said Weiss secretly binged anime on the side. But yep, I was chatting with a certain **Victor L** on PM and I walked away from the conversation thinking... I really **must** have Nora calling out Stand names soon... and welp, there you go!_

 _The **bromance** and the **fluff**. You didn't think Jaune's abilities would be revealed in the 6th chapter, did you? No way, I'd need **waaaaay** more drama for the timing to be right. There'd have to be feels. **FEELS** , I tell you!_

 _But in regards to predictions, I've honestly never had so many for a story before, wow. And there are a few of you where I honest-to-Oum feel like the dead holograph dude in the iRobot movie that tells Will Smith, "Now THAT, detective... is the right question."_

 _Like with what happens after Jaune's deaths... it's a question he's slowly starting to ask, too. A question which will **slowly** be answered, along with a few others. Just note that this is the kind of story with a few **red herrings** tossed in, too - speculations on what the Semblance could actually be, presented as if they were true, but are **not**. Inception meets The Butterfly Effect... while flirting with every other fandom I hold dear. Heavy stuff :)_

 _Aaargh, the polls are shifting... it's okay, it's okay, I was prepared for this... ***whimpers***_

 _Well the changes are doable and actually still work, interestingly enough. I guess that's just the meta of loop!fics for ya. But what I **can** confirm about the polls and pairings is this... The Malachite twins are on the bottom of the bowl._

 _No love for the twins, eh? Eesh..._

 _Anyways, thanks for your continued support, and feel free to **Fave, Follow, and Review** to keep the love coming!_

 _Oh wait, one last thing... **views**. Man, last posted chapter got this story **4,000 views in a single day**. Whoa. I know that's not a huge thing to the heavy-hitters on this site like **Cyn** and **Coeur** , but that's still a personal milestone. Hm, I wonder what talking to them about this would be like... Heh, if you guys have ever seen **Ocean's Eleven** (or Twelve [or Thirteen]), then I imagine Cyn like Rusty (Brad Pitt) and Coeur like Basher (a British Don Cheadle... who actually has a British accent in the films). I'd be Linus (played by Matt Damon); I know that might sound cool, but he plays a total dork in those movies..._

 _Heck... you know what... yep, I'm just gonna make an omake about it._

* * *

 _ **Omake:** Ocean's Eleven/Modern AU (with Coeur, Cyn, and I as roommates thrown together by the fateful fate of life)_

* * *

I knock on the door and enter the room right after - yeah, that kinda defeats the purpose of knocking, but I'm having a good day - to see Cyn lying on the futon on my left and Coeur arduously typing away on who knows what chapter at the computer desk to my right.

"Guys! Hey guys, guess what!?"

Cyn groggily lifts his head up to glance in my direction, the short-cropped blonde beau half-focusing on me with his reply, "I was asleep... and now I'm not."

"Yes! Well, _no_ , but, I just got the stats on LDR, and it might just beat out The Gamer Girl if it keeps growing at this rate!"

"Tha's lovely, mate," Coeur drawls, his eyes not quite leaving the screen as he starts turning to me while typing a final word, finally looking my direction as he continues, "Bu' I keep tellin ya, tha' Arc bloke's Semblance is stewpidly over-powered!"

Something about the way a British person says the word _stupid_... it just makes the insult feel twice as bad.

"Aaaaaghh, here we go again," Cyn mumbles, grunting a bit as he reached across the futon to grab an open back of chips to munch on.

"Where's the struggol? Where's the _con_ -fict? Wot ya go'a be carefol abou' is tha' ya woind up wi' ano'er bloody power fan'asie. Ya rememba yor first fic, don't ya?"

"You remember your first fic?" Cyn echoed between munches as he pointed at me from the couch with his bag of chips, still lying down.

"Cocked up on tha' one, mate."

I sighed. Yes... I remembered my first fic. But still...

"Yeah, but it doesn't seem to affect it's growth so far," I defend excitedly, holding up my tablet for them to see, "Check it out - four thousand story views in a _day!_ "

This seems to have the effect I'm looking for; seemingly placated, Couer walks over and picks up the tablet out of my hand, looking at it in a moment of silence before cocking a brow in my direction, "Awf'ly chuffed, this one. Ya know tha's the amount o' views mah lil cobblers get per a day three _weeks_ afta bein' posted, yeah? Even Cyn's 'ere got that crackin' load of barmy brill the muppets o' FanFiction ain't go' their eyes on yet, wot wos it?"

Cyn just stared at Coeur, slowly shaking his head, "I don't even..."

" _The name of yor sto-rieee_..."

"Spectrum?"

"Yeh, tha' one. Even _tha'_ one gets mor' than four-k per day and it's go' tha' dishy pairing no one ever goes for..."

"Honestly can't even tell if that's an compliment or not," Cyn hedges before taking another mouthful of chips.

"It's the dog's bollocks, mate!"

"Doesn't that mean it's terrible?" I note in curiosity.

"Tha's dog's _dinner_... learn some propah _En_ -glish!"

I dodge Coeur's attempt to smack me up the back of my head, taking my tablet back as Cyn sits up on the couch with a deadpan and shrug at the Englishman.

"What can I say? It's the shipping business, man. Crackshipping Knightshade's what got me this flat in the first place. You guys just... kinda popped up in here one day."

I nodded, for indeed it was true. 221B Bellajaune St. AKA, the Knightshade Flat. Obviously, I'm the newest roommate.

"Yeah," I add smugly as I glance at Coeur, "Even if Cyn practically grandfathered the ship into existence, you're actually getting _paid_ to keep writing it! Cyn and me could retire and live off your fame..."

"I wouldn't say that, Phantom," Cyn notes enigmatically with a smirk, "I ain't finished Auburn _yet_ , and me and Coeur still have our bet going to see which one of our stories can take the number-one spot in the genre on follows first."

"Against a dashin' young author like ya'self?" Coeur retorts as the two veteran authors fist-bump good-naturedly in the reminder of their friendly competition, "Wodn't be a doddle, tha's for sure... bu' ya yanks know all too well tha' wit' 'Professor Arc', the _British_ will be stormin' the top-spot o' the RWBY section on FanFiction by end of Twen'y-Six'een!"

Both Cyn and I groan aloud as Coeur starts on one of his signature tirades.

"America's long known the bes' o' the British for decades! On the _tele!_ Benedict Cumberbatch! Hugh Laurie! Emilia Clarke! _Fiction!_ J. K. Rowling! Orwell! Tolkien! _Cinema!_ Tom Hiddleston! Emma Watson! Hugh Jackman! And don't ev'n ge' me star'ed on _Adele_ -!"

"Hugh's Australian," Cyn drones, already having leaned back on his futon with a groan.

"Dosn't ma'ah! We owned Australia for most o' las' century so it still counts!"

I raise a finger to disagree, but find no words coming out... it's just... when Coeur talks, people _listen_. It's just how it is.

"Poin' is, mate," Coeur continues, finger pointed in my direction before the force of his rant suddenly dies down, "Poin' is, when ya go' a good start, ya keep it rollin... no need to ge' all full o' beans till ya've gone full monty wit' the bloody thing. This ain't a ma'ah o' goin horses for courses, yeah? It's good sport. Hunky-dory?"

I nod as the Britton pats me on the shoulder, "Yeah... I think...?"

" _Good_."

Cyn raises his head again, sleepily regaining focus on us now that he's run out of a steady supply of grub before echoing Coeur's statement with a silent gesture of a thumbs up at me.

"You know what?" I begin with growing contentment, my lesson learned to keep my head in the game without resting on any laurels too soon, "You got a point, guys. It ain't over till it's over... thanks! Y'know, I almost didn't even come in here..."

"Then I'd still be _asleep_ ," Cyn retorts, throwing his arms up before finally plopping back down on the futon for good.

Coeur and I chuckle at Cyn, who really does bear a resemblance to Brad Pitt, before he glances at me with a final nod.

"Well then, ya bes' get ta postin' your nex' chap'ah. Be sure ta pre-edit, else the grammar Nazis'll have ya in for some _real_ barmey rubble..."

"..."

"Barmey rubble?" he repeats slowly, the blank look in my eyes not going away before he deadpans.

" _Trouble!_ ...Now bugger off, I'm hosting a class on in five minu'es."

"Fiiine."

I leave the room, glad for the strange... but helpful... little pep talk. Coeur knows his stuff, and no one can deny that Cyndaquil was one of the first writers to really put the Jaune-and-Blake ship on the map. I just happened to call it Knightshade one day and _poof!,_ I'm here.

Still, it's kinda cool how Couer made it work out for himself in the end... wonder what's next...

 _elsewhere in the fake real world..._

"Oi. Oi, Burnie."

"What, Gavin."

"Ya seen this? Been checkin' out Fanfiction while on vacation - lovely how it works here, vacay's much harder ta come by in England..."

"Uh-huuuh...?"

"Roit. Well look here, this Coeur Al Ayran guy-"

"Al'Aran. I heard of him. Good stuff."

"So it is. His stuff's _really_ good. Don't we have a writer's spot openin' up come New Year's?"

The bearded master of all things that are still awesome in the world strokes his beardy chin in thought...

* * *

 **A/N:** _Okay okay... to like the three people still left reading this, I couldn't help it! I'll politely step away before I'm booed off for author impersonation. For the record, if you ever watch Brad Pitt in the Ocean's Trilogy, he's always eating something when he's not robbing people. **Always**. And I'm sure Coeur's English accent isn't so thick... but Basher's is. /disclaimers! _

_Anyway, take care, dear reader! Best of British to you all!_

 ** _And Happy Reading!_**

* * *

 _ **Live. Die. Repeat.**_

 _TPS (c) 2015, 2018_


	7. A Timely Encounter

_**A Timely Encounter**_

* * *

"Are you sure it doesn't work that way?"

"Pretty sure. You said it yourself, it didn't grow at all last time."

"But after the time I tried to nail you, it grew like _three times_ from what it was at first!"

"Yes, but that was you. You can't expect anyone else to do what _you_ can to me."

Nora stared, and stared _hard_ , at her object of interest, Jaune merely cocking a brow as she knelt down next to his hip to get a better look.

"But I'm _sure_ of it! Your stars are like points! A victory meter! ...Experience points, maybe?"

Jaune ran a hand down his face with strained patience as he tried to keep his other hand holding up the jar gathering sap from the tree in front of him in place, "For the sixth time, Nora... _noooooo_..."

Thrown off by the oddly specific number, Nora actually pouted in thought as she quietly counted up to the only three questions she'd just asked her fearless - and now slightly miffed - leader. Of course, she didn't take into account the small pack of a half-dozen Beowolves team JNPR had dispatched minutes ago near a ravine, a show of dexterous coordination between the blonde knight and his partner as they tag-teamed to pick off three Grimm in seconds with a silent understanding between the two that rivaled even that of their teammates' who took out the other three.

And of _course_ , she didn't take into account that said miffed leader's seemingly borderline precognitive knowledge of the Grimm's impending ambush was actually attributed to a _previous_ successful ambush from said Grimm.

But Jaune knew that Nora couldn't be blamed, and he wasn't blaming her for his present situation - thankfully, his team seemed to sense that she wasn't the one currently souring his mood, either. Let's just say he was no happier having experienced what it felt like to be stabbed through the chest by a Grimm's claws before falling down a giant hole to his death. Fake death.

Whatever.

"He has a point, Nora," Ren supplied helpfully, granting his leader a reassuring smile as he jumped in to the rescue from his own jar-filling corner of their enclave, "That's four people he went up against without so much as a single shift happening in his shield."

"Right," Jaune added, taking a small breath to regain his composure with a small nod in acknowledgment at Ren's action, "Like I said, I know how it works... but not _why_... not yet."

"So that's why you're here?" Nora asked in wonder as she stood up by side, always her ever-bubbly self that had long ago convinced Jaune that likely nothing in the world could change it.

Jaune placed a hand on her shoulder as he let out a much more genuine smile at her question, if at least for the irony from the multiple levels of truth his following answer held, "Yes Nora, that's why I'm here."

Having finished filling her jar of sap from her own corner of the enclave, Pyrrha turned to face the trio in thought as she capped the fresh jar of sap, "Well it's certainly a unique weapon in how its face can shift like that without any apparent form of modern mecha-shifting... it almost seems it's _still_ changing; I don't remember that black _V_ on the bottom of your sheath being there this morning."

Nora and Ren glanced at the change in question on Jaune's sheath, the blonde doing his best not to grunt in frustration at his ever-observant team's powers of perception before Ren cocked his head in realization, "Well... it could be a sort of storage marker."

Blank stares from his teammates, Jaune included.

"...You know, like information. A method to mark captured information about opponents," a small smile from the stoic, " _Hypothetically_ , of course. Maybe you didn't need to gain information on CRDL in order to beat them?"

"Yes," Pyrrha concurred with a slow nod, facing Jaune with a sly smirk as if she'd just caught a possible clue to prove her hypothesis, "The fact that it seems to change most whenever Jaune faces an opponent should give a clue as to its function. As well as his Semblance. It may very well be that his Semblance is more reactive and likely to activate against opponents who are more, for lack of a better word... worthy?"

"Or _deadly_ ," Jaune muttered with a sigh, drawing a stare of suspicion from his orange-haired teammate.

" _Heeeeeey_ ," Nora began with a point at Jaune, "You know what, I think I figured something out!"

Her three teammates stared at her, Jaune particularly not enthused as he quickly thought back to any moments in time where he might've slipped up one way or another.

"You get real angsty and _quiet_ whenever we talk about you! That means you're _hiding_ something... _Jaune_ , are _you_... a _cyborg!?_ "

"Nora, we've spoken about this," Ren noted flatly, "You can't go around accusing introverts of being machines-"

" _Half_ -machine!"

"... _Half_ machines."

A small apologetic shrug from the stoic was enough to tell Jaune he hadn't found the chance to tell Nora about him yet. That would be a loop the knight would _not_ be looking forward to anytime soon... the Tracing references would never end.

Pyrrha, however, was not so easily placated by her teammates' back and forth, her glare of interest remaining on her partner as she noted with crossed arms, "Though I do find it _interesting_ he would find the need to be so quiet in a forest as quiet as this already..."

"..."

Wait a minute.

"It _is_ quiet here," Jaune noted cautiously, slowly reaching for Crocea Mors at his hip as he fell into combat position, " _Too_ quie-"

 ** _ssssss-CRASH!_**

Startled by the sudden sound, it took Jaune a full few seconds to realize that the one affected by it was him. Looking down to see the mass of red liquid seeping down his armor, Jaune watched Nora reach forward while Ren and Pyrrha stood by in shock... before she took some of it with two fingers to put in her mouth.

"Hmm... tastes like, the element of _surprise!_ "

"..."

"...And red sap."

Jaune would've deadpanned at her innocent chuckle that followed if it weren't for the grimace that quickly spread across his features at the sound of the new voice over the clearing.

"Alllllll-righty, then! Now that we've got your attention, teacher's _pets_... I've got a bone to pick with your _lea-der!_ "

The teens turned to see none other than Cardin appearing over the small hill beside their enclave, hefting another full jar of sap in his hand as Sky appeared beside him with a wide grin and second jar.

"Awwww yehhhh, prepare for trouble!"

"Make it double!" Dove added, idly tossing a third jar up and down in his hand before their final member appeared.

"Uh... _triple!_ "

"Jeez Russell, remember your line!" a hissed aside in a strained whisper, "It's _'To bring you punks to devastation!'_ You literally ruin everything!"

Cardin glanced back at his team with restrained anger before shaking his head with a sigh, "Do _not_ mind the idiots. Jaune, I'm here for _you_. You're gonna tell us _right now_ how you cheated in class this week!"

"Cheated?" Ren asked as Pyrrha and Nora already made to furtively reach for their weapons.

"That's right, _cheated!_ " Cardin roared back before pointing at the knight with his jar, "There's no way some scrawny punk could've taken on all four of us right out the gate! It's like he knew every last one of our weaknesses! Like how Sky's halberd lags after every third shot, or how Dove's slashes go too wide, or that Russell was-"

Interrupted by a bubbly burp from the mohawked kid in question who was carrying a small box, Cardin closed his eyes and took a deep breath in an effort to stay composed, "Or that _I_ can't swing to the right..."

"What, trying to swing both ways there, Cardin?"

Almost snorting at the remark, Jaune turned to its unexpected source with a wide grin, the smug smirk still on Pyrrha's face as she glared at Cardin with a hand on her hip. Honestly, Jaune was starting to think he liked her much more this way... _definite_ bonus points for how red Cardin's face was starting to get at the remark, too.

Yeah, partner-y support... much better than mother-y support.

" _Hey!_ You better watch your mouth, you little-"

"And _you_ better watch what you're saying," Jaune shot back, his voice loud enough to be heard throughout the clearing despite his not actually raising his voice.

"Sorry, Jauney-boy, but I don't think you're in the best position to be making that kind of demand, seeing that _you_ four are on lower ground," Cardin noted haughtily, "You think that box Russell's carrying is full of roses!? One more word and we bomb your crew with this sap before treating these _rapier wasps_ to some realll nice _sweet juniper_ for lunch!"

His eyes widening in realization of what'd happened the first time, Jaune's gaze snapped down to his soaked armor before glaring back at Cardin, "YOU _IDIOT!_ Wasps aren't the only things attracted to sap around here! _We're about to get mobbed by a giant_ -!"

"Dose of irony?"

The interruption preceded the click of a weapon's barrel pointed at Jaune's head from behind, the remaining students only then noticing the armed man in a black suit/fedora combo and red shades emerging from the tree line of the enclave...

Followed by a man in a bowler hat.

"If you were going to say _Grimm_ , that is," the second of the two men drawled as he puffed his cigar and took a step forward with an idle twirl of his cane, "Cuz see, _this_ mook's last name just happens to _be_ 'Grimm'... and _that's_ his brother over there."

A second suited thug appearing from behind team CRDL with a loaded flame-thrower arrived, the new arrivals effectively pinching both teams in the enclave, the man in the bowler grinned as he threw his cigar into some bushes to raise both hands with the punch line, "Get it yet, Baby Blues? _The Brothers Grimm!_ "

The first to recover from the shock of the moment, it was Nora who let out a rare grimace, followed by the successive paling of Ren's face as he watched his childhood friend narrowing her eyes dangerously at the overdressed assailant before her finger found the trigger for Magnihild, "What you did there. That's called _littering_. And _littering_... IS _ILLEGAL!_ "

If her following surprise shot at the man in the bowler hat ever made its mark, Jaune would never know. Partly because a huge firefight broke out at the sound of Nora's grenade launcher going off...

And _mostly_ because in the heat of the moment, the idiot behind him accidentally shot him in the head.

* * *

Jaune's eyes opened, the lingering warmth from Ruby's Aural transfer quickly boiling into heated frustration.

"What... the _hell_..."

"Um. J-Jaune?" Ruby squeaked out in concern, never having seen the knight coming out of an Aural connection so angry, "M-My hand... kinda going numb..."

Quickly taking in a breath in surprise, he let go of the crimsonette's already-throbbing hand before lightly wrapping his arm around her to pull her in for embrace in his remorse.

"I'm so sorry, Ruby! I guess emotions transfer as well after I di- _iiiive_ back into another loop," he quickly explained, his heart almost stopping at his near-slip.

'Stupid, Jaune! _Stupid! Keep it together!_ '

But Jaune had no time to waste on berating himself... Cardin was one thing, and so was Grimm. But _this?_ This was not good, and by what he could guess, his team was placed in harm's way because of it. No, he'd lave to leave them out of this... but...

No. No no no... this was him doing his macho thing all over again! He didn't need to lone-wolf this! He had is friends, and this would only work if he had their help! Besides... Oum knew he'd have his hands full when he dropped the bomb of his true Sembalnce anyway - he needed to have as much trust from them all at that time he could get!

But he needed a distraction! ...He needed a plan.

Turning to his fellow leader in his arms, Jaune tried to pull himself away to talk, "Rub... Um. Ruby?"

An annoyed grunt accompanied her tightening her hold on him in response, the shorter girl adamantly shaking her head next to Jaune's midsection before retorting, " _No_. You hurt my hand a _lot_... so, just one more second..."

"Ahem! Miss Rose! Mister Arc!"

" _Eep!_ "

Jaune and Ruby instantly jumped apart as Miss Goodwitch called their attention from a distance away, the remaining students looking back at the pair and chuckling at the scandalous disturbance. Thank Monty that the rest of team RWBY - _Yang_ , specifically - had gone ahead with the front group of students.

"...If you are both quite done... _canoodling_... your teams will very much need the directions of their leaders for this assignment! Wouldn't want anyone getting gobbled up by Beowolves due to lack of leadership, now would we?"

With a small sigh, Jaune muttered, "Oho, we got bigger problems than that..."

Turning to see Ruby glancing at him in question, the young girl still a little flushed from the embrance - and subsequently getting _caught_ in said embrace - Jaune lightly nudged her in the side so she could follow him as they slowly made their way towards the main group.

"I thought you were just trying to be funny with that pun you made just now, Jaune," she began quietly before pausing with a small smile, "I mean, it kinda _was_... but, I didn't think you'd actually be _serious_..."

Jaune nodded at her, no sign of mirth in his expression as one could practically hear the gears cranking in his mind. But slowly enough, his face began to soften as a plan began hatching that might just be crazy enough to work...

"Well Ruby, I think it might not be a problem if we can get your team to help... you game?"

A quick nod with a wide grin. Something about the way Ruby could do without so much as a second thought made Jaune _have_ to smile back at her.

"Good," he replied, hoping that her confidence wouldn't wane with the plan he was about to lay out, " _So_ , there's this stupidly-huge Ursa wandering in the woods..."

 _a few minutes later..._

"For the ninth time, Nora... _noooooo_..."

"He has a point, Nora. That's four people he went up against without so much as a single shift happening in his shield."

"Right. Like I said, I know how it works... but not _why_... not yet."

C'mon, c'mon. Two minutes left...

"So, that's why you're here?"

Jaune placed a hand on his teammate's shoulder, earnestly smiling because that was an answer he knew would never change, "Yes Nora, that's why I'm here."

"Well it's certainly a unique weapon in how its face can shift like that without any apparent form of modern mecha-shifting... it almost seems it's _still_ changing; I don't remember that black _V_ on the bottom of your sheath being there this morning. Nor the extra black arc on its face."

"Well, it could be a sort of storage marker... You know, like information. A method to mark captured information about opponents. _Hypothetically_ , of course. Maybe you didn't need to gain information on CRDL in order to beat them?"

"Yes... the fact that it seems to change most whenever Jaune faces an opponent should give a clue as to its function. As well as his Semblance. It may very well be that his Semblance is more reactive and likely to activate against opponents who are more, for lack of a better word... worthy?"

"Or _deadly..._ "

" _Heeeeeey._ You know what, I think I figured something out!"

One minute.

"You get real angsty and _quiet_ whenever we talk about you! That means you're _hiding_ something... _Jaune_ , are _you_... a _cyborg!?_ "

"Nora, we've spoken about this. You can't go around accusing introverts of being machines-"

" _Half_ -machine!"

"... _Half_ machines."

"..."

"Though I do find it _interesting_ he would find the need to be so quiet in a forest as quiet as this already..."

 _Showtime_.

"It _is_ quiet here," Jaune noted cautiously before suddenly twisting around to catch a flying jar from the air to his teammates' surprise, continuing his turn with the momentum to chuck the jar back over a seemingly empty hill by the clearing.

 ** _ssssss-CRASH!_**

"GAH! WHAT JUST HAPPENED!?"

To team JNPR's further surprise, none other than Cardin Winchester appeared over the small hill with trails of sap and shards of glass on his head.

Nora simply laughed at the large assailant as she pointed at him with a grin, "Hah! In your _face!_ "

"ARC!?" Cardin roared as he saw the unrepentantly guilty grin on Jaune's face, his face redder than the sap it was covered in as his own teammates ran up behind him with jars in hand, " _HOW!_ "

"Don't look so surprised. Your head's literally too big to miss."

Pyrrha glanced in Jaune's direction, giving him an impressed nod before the second team leader turned to his own group.

"That's it! _Light 'em up!_ "

"...With our weapons?"

"As opposed to _what, hopes and dreams!?_ YES WITH YOUR WEAPONS!"

But before anyone on either team could properly aim their weapon at another, Jaune let out a sigh of relief as he saw Yang and Weiss literally sprinting into the clearing, the heiress looking ready to drop on the spot.

Still, he couldn't help rolling his eyes as he realized the only thing Yang could _possibly_ be grinning about right now as she directed herself to team CRDL, "Oho~ I see you guys are exercising your right to _bear arms_...?"

Despite being hunched over, Weiss turned up to face her teammate with an icy glare, " _Please_ don't..."

"WELL... let's see how quick you losers exercise your rights to the whole _BEAR!_ " Yang finished anyway, completely ignoring Weiss as she dramatically gestured at the tree line beside the group.

"..."

"Um, the whole _bear?_ " Yang repeated sassily, placing her hands on her hips as she scoffed, "Jeez, way to screw up a good _line_ , guys!"

"...!"

Pyrrha peered into the forest, her eyes narrowing as she saw a silhouette flitting back and forth towards them over a very much larger silhouette following behind it, "Isn't that... Blake?"

"...-o! ...u-! ...n-! ...-e!"

"She keeps saying something," Jaune noted as he strained his ear to the forest to drown out the strange rumbling noise growing around them.

"-ot! Ju-! -ne! b-r!"

Finally, everyone heard what Blake was saying as she exploded into the clearing in a flurry of twigs and leaves. Probably too late.

"Not just one bear," the uncharacteristically disheveled ravenette began pointedly, practically tackling her teammates as she landed in an effort to get them to turn back towards the tree line, " _Not just one bear!_ "

 ** _GRAWWWWWWR!_**

"Ho-ly sh-"

"- _It's comiiing!_ " Ruby screamed as she zipped into the clearing, the following entry being made by a particularly pissed Ursa Major having been drawn in by the smell of sap... and particularly infuriating sniper shots to its backside.

This of course, followed by a large group of mixed Ursae and Beowolves as well which caused team CRDL to drop all the jars and box they had. Glancing at the perfect mess of Ursae, Beowolves, and Rapier Wasps around them as the three teams engaged their new foes, Jaune couldn't help nodding his head in approval as the crimsonette sped to his side.

"Turns out the stupidly-huge Ursa had friends."

"You really are an overachiever."

Ruby's grin only made him chuckle at her tireless resolve, still going strong even though the perspiration matting a few locks of hair to her forehead were becoming evident before she zipped back into the fray.

Jaune took a single breath to prepare himself. The distraction was set.

Turning around in a full 180, he then sprinted into the forest behind him.

"C'mon... where is he, where is he," Jaune repeated as his gaze skirted to and fro while he sprinted through the forest, grinning as he finally caught sight of the suited thug with the flamethrower making his way towards the growing brawl in the clearing, "Gotcha. _Force Field!_ "

Thrusting his arm out at the moving target as Jaune continued sprinting along, he was surprised to see that instead of creating an Aural barrier for the goon to hit at full speed, Aura coalesced down his arm before shooting out like a sheet of translucent steel at the man.

 ** _ssssssPONNNG!_**

Having actually curved around a few trees like a homing beacon, it made contact, sending the man flying into a nearby tree trunk and knocking him out cold.

"Huh... guess I'll have to think of another name than 'Force Field' for that one," Jaune noted as he glanced at his glowing arm before nearly stumbling into a clearing.

"Ahahhh~ Hey kid, didn't anyone ever tell you that not watching where you're going could get you-"

* * *

"- _Killed?_ " Jaune finished as he strode into the clearing with a final shake of his leg to ensure no glass remained stuck to his shoe, catching the man off-guard as he casually unsheathed Crocea Mors with a smirk, "Hmm... maybe once or twice..."

The lone man in the bowler hat standing in the center of the clearing cocked a brow at this unexpectedly confident kid... _Millennials_ , man. Always thinking they can just strut into a situation and come out unscathed.

"That's good," the white-coated figure noted before adding with a smirk of his own, "How about another one that ends with much the same result: _Never bring a knife to a gun fight?_ "

His smirk widening at the teen who apparently paused in thought at looking at the seemingly unarmed man in front of him just leaning on a cane with a smoke, it faded as the kid seemed to grin in realization.

" _Force Push_."

 ** _ssssssPONNNG!_**

"Gyaaahh-!" _CRASH!_

Turning to the side to see his second gun-totting goon getting slammed out from the tree he was playing sniper in, the criminal's mood was further soured with the kid's following remark.

"D'you mean... _that_ gun? Tell you what, how 'bout you leave me and my friends alone, and you don't have to get hurt!"

" _Right_ ," Roman muttered, more to himself than anything as he took in a deep whiff before flicking his cigar away, "Alright, kid. You've piqued my curiosity. Really think your little parlor trick will work on _me?_ "

"And lose the fun out of keeping you guessing?" the blonde student retorted with a wide smile of mock-benevolence, "Not a chance!"

In reality, Jaune had already tried it. _Several_ times. Turns out, a third attempt at a Force Push consistently made surviving next to impossible. So he had no choice but to go with the next best thing.

Unsurprisingly, in Roman's eye, the kid charged with sword at the ready.

 _Noob_.

Calculating the blonde's stride, Roman waited, his own brand of confidence shining through as he kept his leisurely pose. A seemingly unbalanced stance, but in reality carefully crafted such that his weight was placed just far enough on one side so that when he swung down his cane at top speed, it couldn't be stopped. In fact, it was known to blast right through up to four feet of Dust store walls made from reinforced concrete... and that was on _off-_ days!

But expecting his swing to go through this kid's legs like butter, crippling him for life, Roman was mildly surprised to see the twerp dodge it at the last second, spinning up with decent placement to get a good sword-slice down on him.

Ah well, these brats weren't Hunters-in-training for _nothing_.

Easily dodging the sword strike, Roman found it increasingly interesting that the boy made no further attempts at an offensive front. Heh, well if the punk thought he could outlast Roman-friggin- _Torchwick_ , then he had another thing coming!

And then seconds turned into a minute... and then into a few more...

The sounds of clashing metal and cane rang out around the clearing time and time again, Roman's speed of attacks growing faster and faster as time went on in an effort to win the scuffle. But being held back this long by some kid!? This was getting embarrassing! Sure, he was getting plenty of hits in, and his opponent was increasingly bloodied... but unbowed. Another cane-strike to the face that sent the student flying back a few feet, but like the member of some over-eager tween exploring his pubescence... he just kept getting back up.

Roman actually scoffed this time with the slightest hint of an impressed chuckle in his voice as he made to wipe what he couldn't believe was _actual_ perspiration from under the lip of his hat. Funny thing was, that kind of hit from him like the last one just now would've utterly obliterated the face of anyone he encountered, Aura-user or not.

In reality, if anyone had the eye for sleight of hand, it was Roman... and the criminal had _definitely_ just seen this blondie had angled his face back at the last possible second to only take a glancing strike from the blow. And this wasn't the first time, either. This punk had been doing it for their entire duel...

Roman was no longer able to hold back a grimace. Was this kid actually thinking he could size _him_ up!?

"Hey kid. I think I remember you now," the master thief remarked with a false level of disinterest, false because of the increasing amount of numbers about this little slip of a fighter that just weren't adding up, "The psycho who thought it'd be a good idea to ride a fully-grown Nevermore to a passing grade! Jaune... Arc, was it? Quick question. What good's a shield if you don't even use it?"

Panting heavily, Jaune wiped some blood from his forehead, his gaze never leaving Roman's as he huskily replied, "Doesn't... do me any good against... someone like you. It just slows me down. Thanks for the breather, though."

And with a short burst of brilliant white Aura, the kid was back on Roman with a yell. Roman would say this was starting to get ridiculous if it weren't for his steadily-growing curiosity of this kid's lack of offense whatsoever. Defence and the occasional counter-attack, but Roman didn't even have a blemish on his coat for all the kid's efforts. Did he even wanna _win?_

"Look kid, in case you're trying to be all brave in holding me off for your friends to escape," Roman began, huffing as he ducked under a counter-swing of Crocea Mors against another missed cane-bash, "Chivalry is as dead as the idiots that propagated it as virtue to start with. And now you're starting to get on my nerves. Way I see it, there's two options..."

Flipping back and advancing towards the knight with side-to-side twirls of his cane that couldn't be tracked with the naked eye, Roman becoming miffed how it didn't seem to faze the kid who seemed to know just when to dodge his subsequent strike without getting lost in the flair, "Option A, you lose the last of the steam you got and I kill you. And just because you _ticked me off_ , I'm gonna cripple your _friends_."

One, two, three feints read and dodged perfectly, Roman growling as Jaune almost seemed to opt for being knocked back by the fourth swipe of Roman's four-hit combo that was deceptively the _weakest_ of his hits to throw off his opponents' timing, "Option B... I let your friends live. On the condition that I break your limbs to give you a proper beating within an inch of your life. For a _gentleman_ like you, the choice is obvious."

Advancing against Jaune with a deceptively calm catwalk-style approach designed to keep his opponent's guard low against the relaxed cane... only to be crushed with a speedy reverse-twirl that would bring the head of the cane behind and over Roman to come down on said opponent's head.

Much to his chagrin, that is _not_ what happened, Jaune not only countering the reverse-swing with a high block and sidestep, but with Roman's own 4-hit combo... executed with reputable finesse, as well.

He was... _learning_ from him? _How?_

"How about Option _C_ ," Jaune replied with a growing smirk, grating against the criminal's nerves even further, "The one where I hold you back for so long that you're _forced_ to retreat. Ohhh... don't give me that look~ I've got a good feeling about this one!"

His knuckles going white around his cane with the tightened grip, Roman shouted back, dangerously close to losing his cool, " _That's it_ , buddy! You've just earned yourself Option _A!_ No one gets away with trying to out-style _me_ , in or out of the closet!"

Of course, losing his head was just part of the ploy. Sure, Jaune may be trying to hold back for something... but so was Roman, and he knew it. All it'd take was just a moment with a false sense of security, and _BAM!_ However... what _did_ get him to lose his head was Jaune's retort as they re-engaged.

" _In or out of the closet?_ Aww, you trying to say something there... _sweetie?_ ~"

That's it! That was the last time the little punk deigned himself worthy to mouth off at Roman! And that cockiness that kept him from using his shield would be his undoing... the criminal was practically chortling at the thought. Their weapons clashed against each other with powerful slashes back and forth until with a final feint, Roman let his cane fall just soft enough against the armor on Jaune's arm for him to think he could counter it with his own strength. But with the momentum it carried, the weight of the downward arc forced the knight down to a kneeling position, his arm up in guard but the cane pointed right at his head.

"Sorry, kid. Too much banter. Not enough foresight. Better luck next time," Roman retorted, satisfaction clearly ebbing through his voice as the crosshairs popped up on the cane tip less than an inch from Jaune's face.

 ** _KABLOOOM!_**

"..."

"Eheh... heh, heh, hah... hoo, hoo, _hah_. Next time? Ha ha HAH! _NEXT TIME!?_ "

It only took just a millisecond of shock for the man to realize that Jaune had adjusted his elbow upwards at the last possible moment, sending the bright red Dust-powered projectile from the cane tip up and behind him to obliterate a small batch of forest outside the clearing, and it only took a millisecond more for Jaune to blast upward with an Aura-enhanced uppercut as he expanded his shield - followed by an prompt shield-butt against Roman's jaw to send the man flying back across the clearing.

Ungraciously rolling over the forest dirt a few times with the sheer force of the blow, Roman finally got on all fours to wipe off a small trail of red coming from the corner of his lip.

"Little punk made me bleed my own blood..."

Keeping at least some sense of composure at the face of this kid who for the first time honestly looked like he was about to lose it, Roman stood up, picked up his cane to wedge it under his shoulder, and picked up his hat to pop it back into shape before putting it on and walking back into the clearing with the slightest of limps.

" _Foresight?_ Keh, _you_ wanna talk to me about FORESIGHT!? I've had you pegged since the moment you showed your face, and you wanna talk to ME about _FORESIGHT!?_ "

Roman's brows furrowed in thought, his anger flaring once more at the possibility of its veracity. This kid had actually managed to do his homework on a wanted criminal? Impossible! No one would've been able to know his fighting style well enough to teach them all to some kid! Not to mention the tricks up his sleeve he'd used... and his weapon's second of three transformations was just once step short of his Almighty Ace!

However, before he could roar back a rebuttal at the knight, Jaune pointed his sword at the criminal and began first, " _Now_ you will say, _'You little brat, how'd you know about Melodic Cudgel!'_?!"

"You little _brat_ , _how'd_ you- _HUH!?_ "

That... that was impossible! The only people Roman had ever said that name to were to the occasional sorry schmucks he killed for double-crossing him... _right before they died!_

Struck speechless for possibly the first time in his life, Roman remained slack-jawed as Jaune elaborated with a mock-apologetic tone, "I know, I know. You wanna kill me now. All I'll tell you right now that after putting you on hush mode, you _might've_ at one time... except..."

Jaune granted himself the luxury of a short chuckle, glancing to the side while wiping off some caked blood from his nose before turning back to face Roman, "You failed to realize that I didn't _stumble_ into this clearing... I was shaking off the _sap_ after carrying over some jars _to break them just behind where you're currently standing!_ Aaand..."

Dropping all pretenses of condescension, Jaune raised his arms up at his sides, Roman then feeling the tell-tale rumbling growing behind him with perfect sync at Jaune's action as if the kid were some grand musical conductor.

 _Just what kind of Semblance did this guy even have!?_

 ** _GRROOOOAARRRRRR!_**

Twisting back with what Jaune could almost say looked like the briefest flash of an orange-ish coat of Aura, Roman drew Melodic Cudgel and unleashed a volley of red-Dust projectiles into the forest setting blaze to Grimm and trees alike. Finally mobbed by the Grimm, Roman found himself forced to use his second wind blasting dozens of Grimm apart in close-range... where had they all even come from!? The kid could be a Necromancer or something; no, it wouldn't explain half of the things he could do... and Roman was pretty sure that he was likely not even applying the name right.

However, as the realization began to dawn on him as he slowly began to notice the Grimm not rushing _him_ , but trying to get around him to mob _Jaune_... now he had to start to wonder...

Daring to test his theory as the group left him behind, the few oddly already-wounded Grimm hobbling behind the main pack of a few dozen literally going around him towards Jaune, Roman was able to simply walk around the edge of the clearing while witnessing the young man tearing through Grimm without receiving a single scratch.

A kid like him whose Aura should've been long dry at least five minutes ago, now doing... _that?_ How? Taking a decent beating from a single master thief - to be modest - but still able to whittle down about a dozen young Ursae in _seconds?_ A very unsettling grin began spreading across the criminal's face as a much better question came to mind... _Why?_ Why did he seem so keen on killing some Grimm while letting others limp away in a slow death? And why were they seemingly attracted to him like flies to a light?

Sure, Roman hay have smelt the lingering scent of sap on the kid, but to make Grimm ignore a _perfectly negative human being_ to get a taste of the scrawny punk? That was something else entirely... and though robbing was and would always be one of Roman's favorite passtimes... figuring out how an ability like _that_ could be used to his own ends was just as engaging.

As a matter of fact, this might turn out to be the first genuine fun the high-end criminal would've had in ages.

"You know what?" Roman now began with a grin, having reached the point at the edge of the clearing from whence he came, "You've made your point, kid! Left me quite a bit to think about, so we'll call it a day - best be sure we'll meet again!"

" _Force Field!_ " Jaune shouted in reply, blasting back the remaining mass of Grimm across the field with an Aural wall that by now could barely hold up against the weight before turning back to give the criminal an amiable wave goodbye, "Looking forward to it, ma'am!"

Seriously. It's like this kid had figured out every button there was to press in him in the course of five minutes.

"HEY! Do you live under a _rock!?_ " the man in the bowler hat growled out, "Name's _Roman_. Roman Torchwick! Vale's most notorious _male_ master thief! MALE! Get your facts straight!"

Leaving the location with a huff, Roman had to use every remaining ounce of restraint he had in his body not to turn back and re-engage the kid right then and there after Jaune's final words.

"...THEN DITCH THE MASCARA!"

Smiling at his temporary victory, Jaune didn't see the Ursa sneaking up behind him until he turned and saw the beast right in front of him... with the tip of a long bronze spear coming out of its mouth. Watching as it magnetically retracted from the dead Grimm's disintegrating corpse, Jaune cocked a brow at his partner emerging from the woods.

"You know, with how little I'd ever seen you use that," a quick pause as he caught a potential slip-up, "In... previous... televised matches... I could've sworn you'd actually prefer to keep your Semblance a secret."

"Not much a secret when your partner all but figured it out during initiation."

"...You didn't even know I was _there_ until after you'd literally used it."

A brief moment of speechlessness turned into an apologetic smirk from the Mistrali, "I'm sorry... but polarity or not, I do believe your faith in my ability to appear at the last possible second to keep you from being mauled from behind is a bit... excessive, don't you think?"

No answer from the young leader as he turned back to find the masses of surviving Grimm from the last of his Aura attacks beginning to stir.

"Jaune," Pyrrha noted, more solemnly now, as she walked up beside him to place a hand on his shoulder, "No matter how powerful one may be... life remains a fragile, and fleeting, thing. It is a truth passed down through generations of Hunters, and a fact defining the need of Aura itself to protect against the darkness that surrounds us."

 _"_ Yeah... you're right," Jaune noted, the knight barely making a move to turn his head to glance at the young woman at his side, instead lifting his arm between him and Pyrrha, "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this... we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all... infinite in distance and unbound by death..."

As the knight spoke in nearly trance-like reminiscence, he failed to notice that Pyrrha's hand was still on his shoulder. And as he simply willed his Aura to coalesce along his arm with his memory, he failed to notice the young woman staring wide-eyed at herself as her entire body began to glow a soft red as well in reaction.

 _"I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee."_ He sighed as he finished the words, closing his eyes but for a brief moment as the Aura in his hand dissipated, along with Pyrrha's as well, before he turned back to her with a small smile without having noticed the effect he'd had on her, "We're partners, Pyr. And it'll take a lot more than some random Grimm to screw with that. We'll always have each other's backs. So... thanks for saving mine."

Pyrrha quickly retracted her hand from him as if he were scalding hot, inquisitively wide-eyed before finally gathering the coherency to ask, "Where... w-where did you hear those words?"

Now, it was widely known that aside from her battle prowess, Pyrrha Nikos had an excellent control of her Aura. As a matter of fact, she had been told from a young age that aside from simple Aura transfer to help heal a comrade who was low on Aura, she was one of the exceptional few with the capacity to unlock the Aura of others as well.

That, of course, was something she could've done without making a peep if she wanted. But Pyrrha Nikos was a girl at heart who yearned for that 'magical' moment with that certain someone... and such an intimate process would have to be marked with words that were truly special. But _those_ words... the words she had composed and mentally recited for more than four years... _those_ words were meant to be for the one she chose to be... to be...

"Maybe," Jaune began to answer, an open end to the word as if there were much more left to be said than what he added next, "Maybe, me and you are closer than you think..."

Pyrrha, unwittingly slack-jawed in confusion, might've asked for what he meant had it not been for the sudden peppering of gunfire approaching them from the woods that caught their attention.

"Oho, you mad, bro!?~"

 ** _ROOOOOAAAAR!_**

"Right. Tell you what, how 'bout we just skip the comebacks and go straight to the _BURN!_ "

 _POW!_

A pair of raised brows followed the Ursa that exploded through the foliage into the clearing as the pair of students then followed the blond brawler that emerged behind it.

"Yep, he's done," Yang remarked at the fuming heap of dark ochre, "Guess it's time to find a new customer..."

"Hey! Hey you!" she continued, pointing her gauntlet at another Ursa that was digging its feet in to pounce at Jaune and Pyrrha nearby before leaping at it with a grin, "Do you smoke?"

 _POW!_

"...Now you do."

"Staaaaaaahhhp," Ruby drawled as she, her clearly miffed partner, and the rest of teams RWBY and JNPR emerged into the clearing, cutting down any straggler Grimm before focusing their efforts on the Grimm in the clearing that were beginning to charge them, "Keep it up and Weiss might actually combust!"

Yang chuckled darkly as she reloaded her gauntlets, "Hehe... better than _no bust._ "

"OOOOOOOOHHHH," Nora crowed, her eyes first to go wide with ill-hidden mirth before her interjection was finished by none other than an equally amused Blake.

"... _Snap_."

Jaune turned back to see his partner's reaction at Weiss' rather amusing response of leveling a small section of charging Grimm with a _very_ unlady-like yell in tandem with some Dust attack or another with high area of effect, but was surprised to see Ruby there instead. Apparently, Pyrrha had gone ahead with Ren and Yang to whittle down the last of the Grimm coming at them.

"Jaune."

The knight turned to his fellow leader, not for the fact that she called his name as much as for _how_ she said it.

Reaching up, her hand practically trembling before finally deciding not to touch his head, she continued with the concern still evident in her voice, "Y-You're bleeding! I thought you could-"

"Yes, I can," he finished reassuringly, gently taking her hand and giving it a light, comforting squeeze, "But today I learned I can't manage a perfect run on _everything_. I mean, I tried... but this is different. I wasted so much time trying to find a way to dodge everything until I finally realized that sometimes... you just have to take a hit to stall for a breather, or get in position, or to just stay in the fight. I just had to learn how to look for the smartest hits to take."

She glanced at the shield at his side that held thee gold stars like she remembered - but now along with two black ones as well - and then back up at him in question, Blake and Nora trading a shrug to what they figured would end up being just another Aura transfer before joining their comrades in the fray, "But... you seemed just fine during initiation... you're saying a pack of Ursae did-?"

"No, not Grimm. An overdressed idiot with a nice hat and a mean swing."

Ruby frowned - not pouted, but actually _frowned_ \- with consternation, her hands already lighting with Aura as she decided to address the matter at hand first, "Alright... well, you probably need some serious Aura after something like that... this the first time we do this?"

"Yeah. Vanguard loop, I guess. But actually," Jaune noted with slight surprise before accepting Ruby's offer, quickly rolling his shoulders a few times and coalescing his Aura around his hand to check for responsiveness, "I feel fine..."

Glancing at the nonplussed crimsonette as she puffed her cheeks in doubt, he continued with an affectionate pat on her shoulder, " _Really_ , I feel fine. For now, let's just finish clearing out the Grimm here and head back - I'm sure Glynda will understand what happened. Just know that everything went according to plan... and I should probably see what I can learn before jumping to any conclusions. We'll talk as soon as I have an idea about who I just went up against."

With that, Jaune turned and began jogging into the fray only to be greeted by Nora's notification that the threat had been neutralized - in the form of a grenade blast that eviscerated the remaining beasts.

Having left Ruby behind, the girl simply let out the breath she'd been holding where she stood, the doubt never having left her features after his description of the stylish assailant.

"I think... _I_ might."

* * *

"Weiss... for the millionth time... I'm _sorryyy_..."

The heiress in question merely continued fiddling with her salad as both teams sat around the cafeteria table with their well-deserved lunch portions in front of them. The room was mostly empty; thankfully, after a surprisingly short conversation with the Headmaster and his Deputy, Jaune had managed to get both teams the rest of the day off while landing team CRDL in detention... writing obscure history fact essays for one Doctor Oobleck.

" _Weiss-creeeam_ , c'monnn... stop being a sourpuss!"

Maybe Jaune was the only one to notice Blake's bow flatten onto her head by just a fraction of an inch from where he sat - for obvious reasons - or maybe not. He might've even asked Pyrrha about it in an aside, recalling that she at one time was much more vigilant in avoiding a possible reveal of Blake's heritage to third parties than even he was, if it weren't for the fact that the Mistrali in question had been shooting him furtive glances for the past few minutes between bites of food. In the end, he wisely decided not to comment on it among mixed company as his snowy-haired peer shot back her rebuttal.

" _Maybe_... if you stop making those Oum-forsaken puns!"

At that, Yang drew back with pride, shaking her head as she made a victory fistpump with a grin, "Never! I must live up to my calling, the one they refer to when they call me 'H'...!"

Blake raised a brow at her partner, "Whyyy would they call you-?"

"-Cuz I turn pun-hating _asses_ into _ashes!_ "

With a round of groans from the table, and a 'Boo!' from Nora, the hammer maiden then leaned forward... observing the narrow-eyed Weiss in an attempt to help.

In her own way.

"I'm... pretty sure that fork wasn't bent that much when Weiss first got it..."

" _Thank you..._ _**so** much_..."

"You're... welcome?"

Before the situation deteriorated any further, Ruby decided to step in and deflect the ire, "It's okay, Weiss. For what it's worth, I think Jaune's puns are _way_ better..."

"W-What!?" Yang quipped dramatically with a hand held over her breast in mock-hurt, "My own _sister_ turns against me and my genius!? Jaune hasn't even _made_ a pun since initiation! The rubber band one's probably the best one he even _had_ under his belt!"

"..."

The seven students then gazing expectantly at the implicit challenge towards the blonde leader, who'd remained largely silent throughout the afternoon, Jaune simply left his spoon in the bowl in front of him and tipped it over so that everyone could see its contents, "Alphabet soup."

More than a few brows rising as they glanced at the random letters floating around in the reddish broth, the students then turned up to see Jaune sporting an ear-to-ear grin.

"More like Times New _Ramen_ , am I right!?"

Blake and Ren simply stood up and left as the remaining students exploded into laughter.

However, Jaune nodded in approval as he caught the smirks on the two students' faces, glad to take the nearly unanimous implicit crowning of King of Puns... even if it were by blatantly plagiarizing off material from the rightful Queen of Puns. But Yang hadn't thought of it yet... so, fair game! Yes, the joys of victory were sweet... that is, until in a surprising show of rage-fueled strength from one with such a lithe frame...

Weiss literally flipped the table over.

* * *

 **A/N:** _For conversation purposes, let's just say that's a perfect example of when NOT to "Break the Weiss."_

 _Ehehhh... hehhh... okay, I'm done now. Just had to get that one off my chest!_

 _And now another drawback is revealed from Jaune's Semblance... not the biggest drawback by far, but for anyone with questions, it will be explained next chapter. I just wanted a more interesting way to explain it. But it **will** be explained._

 _Sure, I could've added Roman's observations post-fight to end the chapter with a cool one-liner... but I quickly realized that there is simply **no way** to upstage Weiss rage-flipping a table. **Y-You just can't!** So I won't... instead, we get to get it all at once when Roman explains himself to Cinder next chapter (crap, character intro reveal! mehhh, it was gonna happen eventually) along with... well... more helpings of tidbits and herrings about Jaune's Semblance. Yep... this chapter was all action - action as filler, eesh. Next chapter - back to plot!_

 _Just know that those polls... sheesh... you guys are **killin'** it! Can you tell who's working their way up the polls yet? Whether you're happy with it or not, feel free to stop by the **poll** center and pitch in your three cents!_

 _Three, as in you get to choose **3 favorite pairings!** Favorite canon pairing! Favorite crackship pairing! Favorite *shh, it's my guilty pleasure* pairing!_

 _It's certainly giving me a great read on what you guys like in general! So to show my appreciation, I'll break down the current poll standings into **5** delicately-measured tiers:_

 _ **TIER 1:** A number of RWBY + Pyrrha + Neo - (in no particular order). At least **10% per entrant** , but the **top 2** ladies outdo the others with **15% per lady**. A tier in their own, but can't exactly put them in their own tier without risking their anonymity._

 _ **TIER 2:** A number of RWBY + All the middle-age women - (in no particular order). Seriously. It's hilarious. **All** of them. Average **5% per entrant**._

 _ **TIER 3:** Beacon girls. Anyone who doesn't fall into tiers 1 or 2 and still goes to Beacon fall here. Average **2% per entrant**._

 _ **TIER 4:** Everyone else. Average **1% per entrant**._

 _ **TIER 5:** The Malachite Twins. **0% each**. No lies. No love for the twins, people!? I thought people would be into that kind of thing, though! I just love how the system doesn't even care to validate the votes the twins've gotten with at least a 1%. But nope. 0%. **Each**._

 _Got lots of unexpectedly good feedback about my take on **Super Saiyan Cyndaquil** and **Coeur Al'Aran** from the omake last chapter. That's pretty cool. No guarantees on future omakes for this fic, but I wouldn't be above writing what happens if we authors get warped into Remnant and have to answer directly to the young women we've written into so many precarious situations. Mostly Coeur..._

 ** _...Especially Coeur._**

 _But there are **lots** of great writers out there, and I've the pleasure of having many of you writers as my readers, but I just gotta bump those two since they got me started on Jaune x Blake. **Knightshade FTW!**_

 _Anywho, I've rambled enough. More to come next chapter! Until then, feel free to **Fave, Follow, and Review** to show your support like a valued number of you have! Thanks much! So take care..._

 ** _And Happy Reading!_**

* * *

 _ **Live. Die. Repeat.**_

 _TPS (c) 2015, 2018_


	8. Gaps

_**Gaps**_

* * *

 _ **CRASH!**_

The five remaining students leapt back, or scooted back in their seats, from the tossed hunk of wood in the air that came crashing down in front of the seriously peeved heiress.

"Uhm... can't believe I'm saying this, but uh," Yang began cautiously with hands raised in placation as she caught the twitchy gaze of her teammate, "Weiss, we're gonna need ya to cool it down for a bit. Wouldn't wanna scare away our new friends cuz you haven't taken any... anger management lately, would we?"

"I don't _need_ anger management," Weiss retorted hotly, which by Yang's definition was rather uncharacteristic of her, _"I just need people to stop pissing me off!"_

Nora, however, remained rather unfazed by the tense atmosphere, throwing up her hands as she declared, "Don't worry, Angry Person, it's just like I tell Renny-bear - If the world didn't suck, we'd all fall off!"

"Nora... _ _still not helping!__ " Jaune shot at her in a strained whisper, the twitch returning to Weiss' gaze who looked like she was about to erupt again before a strange square of translucent plastic was thrust up into her line of sight.

" _What. On Remnant. Is this_."

Weiss' gaze slowly trailed down the oddly bumpy plastic square to the slender arm that held it and finally to the owner who owned it, the crimsonette's silver eyes wide and pleading with hope as she cracked an innocent smile with her reply, "Therapy is expensive... but bubble wrap is cheap?"

But snatching the square out of her leader's grasp, Weiss pointed at her with square in hand, "Ruby! If you think your puppy-dog eyes can assay me, I'd sooner use your sister's ridiculous bust as stress balls and squeeze the-!"

 _prrrrapapapapap!_

Everyone froze as their gazes immediately flicked to the source of the sound in Weiss' white-knuckled grip, the heiress' face suddenly softening as she unfurled the slightly crumpled sheet of plastic in her hands to glance at it in curiosity, "Oh."

Her thumb and index finger closing around another bubble in the wrap, the result was a single loud _pop_ that rang across the room once more.

"...Oh?"

 _Pop!... pop!... popopop..._

Suddenly engrossed in the enthralling, wondrous square of bliss, Weiss absent-mindedly slouched back down into her seat to continue the popping as the remaining students quickly took the opportunity to accommodate the table lest any teachers walk in. As Ruby sat back down as well, Jaune gave the triumphant crimsonette a thumbs up as Yang took a seat while blowing a lock of hair out her eyes.

"I dunno, I was kinda curious in seeing where she was gonna take the stress ball analogy."

"As _if_ , Xiao Long," Weiss noted sharply without looking up, though the ice in her words seemed strangely out of place considering the small smirk on her lips that remained in place while she continued popping more plastic bubbles, "I'm sure any one of the drooling mongrels in this Academy will be _more_ than happy to fulfill said curiosity for you."

Ruby cocked her head with a small cringe at her partner's words, "Not sure what's weirding me out more right now... talking about my big sis getting felt up or the smile on Weiss' face as she said it..."

"I'm... sure that's not how she meant it," Pyrrha defended courteously as she took her seat across the trio, Jaune joining her as well with a nod.

"Yeah, if anything, I think Weiss learned an important life lesson today..."

Every girl turned to face him with inquisitive raised brow except Weiss, who maintained her focus on taking out a full row of bubbles at a time. From left to right. Top row to bottom row. And running a precautionary double-check to verify all were popped before moving to the other side.

"...Never take life seriously," Jaune concluded with a small smirk, "Cuz nobody gets out alive from it, anyway."

For the first time since receiving her temperamental antidote, Weiss glanced up at the knight with a narrow-eyed deadpan from across the table.

"I refrain from berating that statement since I yet hold on to the hope that you may be one of the few good ones left in this Academy."

Jaune granted himself a chuckle at the flat words if only because everyone else snickered at Ruby's clearly successful ploy to keep Weiss from blowing up again, even if at least a little, "Well I dunno, Weiss... if your looks could kill, then right now, I'm pretty sure I'd be-"

* * *

In the blink of an eye, Jaune's consciousness swirled back into focus to find himself standing in Fall Forest in front of a sizeable mound of Grimm.

"What in the-"

"Jaune?"

Further surprised by the voice of his partner, Jaune turned to see a confused Pyrrha wide-eyed at him for who knows how many reasons, any consideration to those reasons drop-kicked out the window as Jaune's consternation only grew at the question of why he was there in the first place.

" _What in the_ -"

"Oho, you mad, bro!?~"

 ** _ROOOOOAAAAR!_**

"Right. Tell you what, how 'bout we just skip the comebacks and go straight to the _BURN!_ "

 _POW!_

A pair of raised brows followed the Ursa that exploded through the foliage into the clearing as the pair of students then followed the blond brawler that emerged behind it.

"Yep, he's done," Yang remarked at the fuming heap of dark ochre, "Guess it's time to find a new customer..."

"Of _course_ ," Jaune mumbled as he facepalmed, shaking his head as he tried to figure it out, "But why..."

"Do you smoke?"

 _POW!_

"...Now you do."

Despite himself, Jaune actually had to hold back a small snort at Yang's admittedly funny banter against... well, herself... but quickly looked up at his partner as he realized that this was a chance not to be wasted even as more of their friends emerged into the clearing.

"Pyr... what's wrong?"

Finally having regained some composure, Pyrrha's expression remained somewhat tight-lipped as she replied, "I... suppose it's nothing. I must've heard something wrong, that is all. No need to worry."

If anything, Jaune had literally seen that mask on her face over a hundred times... and he didn't believe it for a second. The conversation behind them suddenly picking up, the timing of her words seemed to coincide with Blake's addition to what was surely Yang's wrath-inducing pun.

"... _Snap_."

Jaune resisted the urge to turn back and see Weiss' rather amusing response of leveling a small section of charging Grimm with a _very_ unlady-like yell in tandem with some Dust attack or another with high area of effect, but instead kept a questioning gaze at his fidgety partner.

"Pyrrha..."

But with a steeled resolution and surprising appearance of reddening cheeks, Pyrrha cleared her throat before stating, "O-Our enemy seems to be recovering. I'll join Ren and Yang to cut down their numbers before they can charge us in earnest."

With that, Jaune watched as Pyrrha began to sprint towards the fray, only further plagued with questions as she paused to turn and give him one of those complicated looks that he recalled her once having given him often in their original timeline.

"Maybe... maybe we'll talk about it later."

Continuing to watch as she then turned back to leap into the fray, Jaune cocked his head at the fact that it was the _first_ time he recalled a look like that from her after he'd reset the first time...

"Jaune."

The knight turned to his fellow leader, the path of events becoming refreshed in his mind as he saw Ruby's almost watery eyes drifting up to the gash on his forehead.

Reaching up, her hand practically trembling before finally deciding not to touch his head, she continued with the concern still evident in her voice, "Y-You're bleeding! I thought you could-"

"Yes, I can," Jaune finished for her before taking her hand in tandem with a deep breath; his next words that he'd once already told her came out like clockwork at this point.

Good thing memorizing the gist of events had become second nature to him by now... because figuring out this new little mystery was surely going to get interesting...

 _a few hours - and a table flip - later..._

Jaune had to admit, watching Weiss flip a table a second time was actually _funnier_ than the first.

 _prrrrapapapapap!_

"Oh."

 _pop._

"...Oh?"

 _Pop!... pop!... popopop..._

Suddenly engrossed in the enthralling, wondrous square of bliss, Weiss absent-mindedly slouched back down into her seat to continue the popping as the remaining students quickly took the opportunity to accommodate the table lest any teachers walk in. As Ruby sat back down as well, Jaune remembered to give the triumphant crimsonette a thumbs up as Yang took a seat while blowing a lock of hair out her eyes.

"I dunno, I was kinda curious in seeing where she was gonna take the stress ball analogy."

"As _if_ , Xiao Long," Weiss noted sharply without looking up, though the ice in her words seemed strangely out of place considering the small smirk on her lips that remained on her face while she continued popping more plastic bubbles, "I'm sure any one of the drooling mongrels in this Academy will be _more_ than happy to fulfill said curiosity for you."

Jaune let the familiarity of the situation sink in around him as he and Pyrrha, who for lack of a better word still seemed to be rather... _cautious..._ around him, but decided that he'd focus on memorizing every bit of information he could in the present. At least until the strange cause for his most recent loop could be ascertained.

Ruby cocked her head with a small cringe at her partner's words, "Not sure what's weirding me out more right now... talking about my sis getting felt up or the smile on Weiss' face as she said it..."

"I'm... sure that's not how she meant it," Pyrrha defended courteously as she took her seat across the trio, Jaune joining her as well with a nod and with as reassuring a smile as he could muster.

"Yeah, if anything, I think Weiss learned an important life lesson today..."

Every girl turned to face him with inquisitive raised brow except Weiss, who maintained her focus on taking out a full row of bubbles at a time. From left to right. Top row to bottom row. And running a precautionary double-check to verify all were popped before moving to the other side.

"...Never take life seriously," Jaune concluded with a small smirk, wondering from where he had even gotten that cheesy line in the first place, "Cuz nobody gets out alive from it, anyway."

For the first time since receiving her temperamental antidote, Weiss glanced up at the knight with a narrow-eyed deadpan from across the table.

"I refrain from berating that statement since I yet hold on to the hope that you may be one of the few good ones left in this Academy."

Jaune granted himself a chuckle at the flat words if only to stall while he stole little glances left and right around the cafeteria, beginning slowly as if counting the seconds to another possible reset, "Well I dunno, Weiss..."

Ah. That actually wouldn't be a bad idea. Maybe the time itself was important?

"...if your looks could kill, then right now, I'm pretty sure-"

* * *

A blink of an eye later... back at the forest clearing.

Yep. It was probably important.

"Oum I hate my life."

"Jaune... are you well?"

Jaune turned to see a confused Pyrrha wide-eyed at him for who knows how many reasons, though she seemed somewhat more concentrated at the moment to what he quickly realized was the scowl of pain that'd been plastered on his face.

"Yeah," Jaune drawled, unwittingly rubbing the back of his head which was strangely throbbing to the touch, "Just... kinda feeling a nasty headache coming on right now..."

"Oho, you mad, bro!?~"

 ** _ROOOOOAAAAR!_**

"Right. Tell you what, how 'bout we just skip the comebacks and go straight to the _BURN!_ "

 _POW!_

 _a few hours later..._

Okay. The table-flipping? That'll _never_ get old.

In either case, Jaune went through the motions, having gotten some enjoyment still at the rounds of puns and jokes going around and Weiss' strange fascination with bubble wrap while trying to figure out what'd gotten himself back at the clearing in the first place. It was certainly another question he'd have to think about... if he couldn't find out why he kept looping, he could at least ask Ozpin for insight as to what might be making him loop back to a point where he and Ruby hadn't been in contact at all.

Maybe the words he'd told Pyrrha...?

"I'm... sure that's not how she meant it..."

Speak of the Champion. Time to chip in.

"Yeah, if anything, I think Weiss learned an important life lesson today... Never take life seriously, cuz nobody gets out alive from it, anyway."

"...I refrain from berating that statement since I yet hold on to the hope that you may be one of the few good ones left in this Academy."

Yeah. If he couldn't figure it out on his own soon enough, he'd definitely have to take this to Ozpin. Sure, what he'd be able to contribute would likely be as speculative as his own deductions, but it never hurt to get a second opinion.

"Well I dunno, Weiss," ' _3:47pm, 58 seconds. Got it_ ,' "If your looks could kill, then right now, I'm pretty-"

* * *

"- _Owwwww_..."

"Jaune... are you well?"

Jaune turned to glance at his partner in the forest clearing as his hand went right up to the back of his head to rub away the pain, only adding one more reason for her present confusion when he spoke up.

"Have you ever ended a sentence with the words _'I'm pretty'_ before? At first I thought it might sound conceited... but honestly, it just sounds weird."

* * *

The next five loops or so ended with Jaune hurrying or delaying his final words at different intervals, checking to see if it affected his _Time of Reset_ at all. He'd taken to calling it that instead of something with the word _Death_ in it considering the evident irony from its use in his case. Honestly, he wasn't even sure if death even _was_ the cause of his most recent string of loops...

And no, no matter what he did, adjusting the conversation didn't seem to change his Time of Reset in the slightest.

The next few loops after that were then spent experimenting with position while keeping conversation as close to that of the initial loop, or in his recently-coined terms, Vanguard Line, as possible. Like he'd done the first time after keeping Roman at bay, he'd wing any new conversation or action and remember to keep it as identical as possible during future loops as long as it didn't adversely affect the circumstances surrounding his initial loop back in the first place. Obviously, the puns were the easiest part by now.

Sit a few inches to the left. Maybe a few to the right next time. But even when Jaune sat far enough down the table to draw a few raised brows from his friends, it still didn't seem to change the fact that he looped back the same as always. Or the fact that the headache was _definitely_ starting to reach migraine levels.

"You okay there, or did all that talk about Ramen really _cook your noodle?_ "

Uh oh. Having Yang already challenging his newly-attained throne was _not_ good - and this potential divergence _definitely_ wasn't in the original timeline. Thankfully, Jaune knew he could count on Ruby.

"Yaaaaang, _seriously_. We _just_ got Weiss down to manageable stress levels!"

"I dunno," Yang noted, finally sitting at the cafeteria table that they'd just moved back in place as she blew out a lock of hair from her eyes, "I was kinda curious in seeing where she was gonna take the stress ball analogy."

Phew. Crisis averted.

"As _if_ , Xiao Long," Weiss noted sharply without looking up, though the ice in her words seemed strangely out of place considering the small smirk on her lips that remained in place while she continued popping more plastic bubbles, "I'm sure any one of the drooling mongrels in this Academy will be _more_ than happy to fulfill said curiosity for you."

Ruby cocked her head with a small cringe at her partner's words, "Not sure what's weirding me out more right now... talking about my sis getting felt up or the smile on Weiss' face as she said it..."

Ah, so that's where they had left off. Still in the cafeteria, cautiously returning to their seats while Ruby's solution to a broken Weiss was still uncertain. Pyrrha would speak up any moment now...

"I'm... sure that's not how she- Jaune!"

Interrupted by her leader's unusually clumsy collision with the table as he tried to pull out his seat, the girls turned to face Jaune as he grunted in pain with a hand to his head.

"Really Jaune, what'd Oz do when you went up to his office, give you booze or something?" Yang noted with a mix of humor and genuine concern as Pyrrha placed a hand on Jaune's shoulder, who in turn tried to wave her off in a gesture to say he was fine, "Cuz honestly, a shot like that can go straight to your head so soon after a fight..."

However, concern gave way to confusion as Yang and even the others watched Jaune's face go blank in a way that seemed too sudden to even be guilt.

"Shot... to the head," Jaune mumbled under his breath incredulously, "Of _course_..."

The knight quickly fidgeted with his pocket to pull out his scroll and check the time. 3:47pm, 54 seconds... and counting...

"Uhhh... Jaune. Everything okay?" Ruby asked unsurely as he quickly made a 180 to give them his back and watch the cafeteria wall behind him... but there was no reply since Jaune was no longer paying attention.

Every loop prior had been set off by his death. _Every_ one. Of _course_ it shouldn't just change out of the blue! Why would it? As the blonde leader scanned the cafeteria wall behind them, his question was finally answered when he could've sworn he heard the tinkle of breaking glass in one of the cafeteria windows above him.

And in the millisecond it took for his gaze to flick towards the window in question, he also could've sworn seeing something impossibly small and fast glint in the light...

Right before embedding itself perfectly in between his eyes.

* * *

"GAH! SWEET HOLY MAIDEN!"

Immediately going down on his knees with hands to his head, Jaune sensed Pyrrha's presence immediately by his side, his expectation of opening his eyes to the sight of the cafeteria unsurprisingly being met with the reality of their current location by the forest clearing.

"Jaune! A-Are you injured!?"

"Oho, you mad, bro!?~"

 ** _ROOOOOAAAAR!_**

"Right. Tell you what, how 'bout we just skip the comebacks and go straight to the _BURN!_ "

 _POW!_

Pyrrha raised a brow, both at the Ursa that exploded through the foliage into the clearing with the blond brawler that emerged behind it, and at Jaune's evidently annoyed groan in reply.

"If I have to listen to that pun... _one more time_..."

"Yep, he's done," Yang remarked at the fuming heap of dark ochre, "Guess it's time to find a- whoah, what's up with _you_ two? Is Jauney-boy o-"

"Don't just _stand_ there!" Jaune countered sharply despite the throbbing in his head, "There's another one behind us!"

Pointing back at the Ursa that either girl just noticed was digging its feet in to pounce at Jaune and Pyrrha nearby while they were kneeling on the ground together, Yang let out a brief yell as she leapt through the air to deliver a one-punch kill on the unsuspecting beast. Still, with narrowed eyes, Yang then did a double-take between the blonde knight and the deceased Grimm which he'd have had no way of locating from behind before letting it go with a nonchalant shrug.

"Hm, guess he _is_ okay."

"Me or the Ursa?" Jaune noted aloud, turning to face his fellow blonde with a small, albeit pained, smirk, "Because I'm pretty sure smoking is bad for a Grimm's health..."

"Staaaaaaahhhp," Ruby drawled as she, her clearly miffed partner, and the rest of teams RWBY and JNPR emerged into the clearing, cutting down any straggler Grimm before focusing their efforts on the Grimm in the clearing that were beginning to charge them, "If you two keep it up, Weiss might actually combust!"

Yang chuckled darkly as she reloaded her gauntlets, "Hehe... better than _no bust._ "

"OOOOOOOOHHHH," Nora crowed, her eyes first to go wide with ill-hidden mirth before her interjection was finished by none other than an equally amused Blake.

"... _Snap_."

With a small chuckle, Jaune turned back to see his partner's reaction at Weiss' rather amusing response of leveling a small section of charging Grimm with a _very_ unlady-like yell in tandem with some Dust attack or another with high area of effect, but was met with said partner's unwavering gaze on him instead.

"Jaune. You haven't answered my question..."

"Sheesh Pyr, when'd you become so overbearing?" Jaune noted jokingly, to which her expression faltered and she scooted back an inch or two on her knees with a light blush.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to impos-"

"Nah I'm kidding, it's fine," Jaune stated with a wider smile than was probably warranted while Blake and Nora took the opportunity to join Yang and Ren in the fray for support, but it had been a long time since he'd seen Pyrrha falter like she once used to, "To be honest, I actually kinda missed it..."

A raised brow from the Mistrali and a moment of panic for Jaune.

"I-I mean, _liked_ it!" a facepalm in self-derision as a smirk started spreading on Pyrrha's face, "I mean... _guhhhhh_..."

"Are you _sure_ you didn't receive a head injury while you were out here on your own, Jaune?"

What would've likely been a deadpan at the nostalgically familiar chastising tone in her voice, Jaune's reaction was stopped short as his hand was softly moved away so Pyrrha could lightly run her other hand through Jaune's hair to see the extent of his quickly-healing injuries.

But looking at the concerned, determined look in her eyes... the Mistrali's mask was nowhere to be found.

"Maybe if I had," Jaune began with a warm smile at his partner's genuinely considerate action, "It wouldn't be so bad if it meant Pyrrha Nikos would be my official caretaker..."

It was Pyrrha who now shot a light deadpan in his direction as she pulled her hand back from her finished check-up on him and stood up.

"Pyrrha Nikos, 'The Invincible Girl'?"

"Nope," he retorted as he stood back up as well, the headache finally beginning to recede, "Pyrrha Nikos, the most caring anime-lover I know... and my partner. Can't forget that one. That alone kinda forces you into the role, but it cuts both ways. We take care of each other, that's how it works - no titles, no merits, just what you and me bring into the table as _people_. Good deal?"

Jaune was glad to see Pyrrha's arms cross in thought and her weight shift to one side - a sign of comfort with a person he also hadn't seen from her since his original reset - as the smirk reappeared in her face, "You know Jaune, I'm really beginning to believe I'd misjudged you when we first met..."

"Heh, my bad about that. I kinda suck with first impressions."

"Yes. You do," Pyrrha noted playfully with a widening grin before glancing at the continued fight and drawing her weapons, "But I suppose we can talk more later. You should rest for now - I'll help the others engage the enemy."

Jaune watched his partner rejoin the cacophony of gunshots and roars in the clearing, immensely content that if anything, he was gradually making his relationship with Pyrrha like what it once was in his own way. It actually felt pretty good knowing that he was actively working for something better instead of cheating his way through it - by this time he'd kick whatever version of himself might've once considered cheating his way into Beacon. Whether or not that had ever actually happened with his blank past and all would simply have to be a question that'd be answered another day...

Right now, he had to suppress a chuckle at the familiar presence he could now sense behind him, turning to find a cross-armed Ruby glaring at him expectantly.

"Well that was... _different_ ," she began slowly as she walked up to his side, Crescent Rose still smoking from its constant use throughout the day, "What happened, for _real_ though? Did the plan not work?"

Jaune half-shook/half-nodded his head as he tried to find the right way to explain it, "Ehhh... it worked, but I'm not here because I looped back to before the plan started. I'm here because I looped back _here_. To a point _after_ the fight."

"Wait... so, does that mean I top up your Aura right now? No, that wouldn't make sense... you wouldn't have looped back to have this conversation if I hadn't topped you up yet," Ruby continued pensively, her hand rubbing her chin in an adorable display of pondering deduction before finally giving up and glancing at Jaune in question, "So how'd you loop back to a moment in time that never got marked with an Aura connection?"

Jaune brought up his hand, coalescing his inexplicably renewed Aura into the appendage with a newfound realization, "Maybe... it's cuz I made a connection on my own..."

Ruby visibly deflated at the news, her shoulders slumping at the implication, "Whaaa... so, you're saying we don't even get to-"

"No no, I'm not saying that," Jaune interjected amiably, holding out a hand to stop her train of thought, "I don't even know how I did it. And if I had figured this out sooner, I might've even thought that doing it myself was a bad idea since it could cause unexpected looping... but I'm pretty sure that's not the case..."

Jaune winced as the memory of the unidentified object lodging itself in his brain caused him a brief flash of phantom pain, but he was able to shake it off before Ruby noticed.

"So... until then...?"

"I keep coming to you for regular top-ups," Jaine finished with a reassuring grin, earning a similar one fro Ruby in reply, "Besides, I've got other puzzles to solve before I try and figure out how to make my own reset points... I still got a lot to learn."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Even with today's events, I learned I can't manage a perfect run on _everything_. I mean, I tried... but this is different. Sometimes the smartest move to stay in a fight is to _get_ hit, doesn't matter if it's as small as a shove in the back," a small groan at the memory of his first encounter with Melodic Cudgel's firing ability, "Or, a bullet to the face..."

"..."

"Figure of speech."

"Uh huh," Ruby noted flatly, a slightly incredulous tone at Jaune's strange choice of words, "But last I checked, Grimm don't carry guns..."

"No, not Grimm. An overdressed idiot with a nice hat and a mean swing."

Ruby frowned - not pouted, but actually _frowned_ \- with consternation, "Alright... well, this guy got a name?"

"Yeah. But it's one I kinda wanna learn about first before sharing, at least to keep myself and anyone else from jumping to any conclusions so soon... not sure I can even trust the info the guy gave me in the first place," glancing at the nonplussed crimsonette as she puffed her cheeks in doubt, he continued with an affectionate pat on her shoulder, "We'll talk as soon as I have an idea about who I just went up against."

With that, Jaune turned and began walking towards the forest only to be stopped by Ruby who sped in front of him with a smirk and raised brow in a small gust of rose petals.

"Um, aren't you forgetting something? We got Grimm to finish off first."

"Meh. Pretty sure Nora's got it handled by now."

Glancing in curiosity over her fellow leader's shoulder, she caught sight of Nora right in time to see her transform Magnihild into launcher form.

"Off with their heads!~"

 ** _BOOOOOM!_**

"...Hm. Point taken. But, _how_ exactly did she manage to blow off so many heads with just one grenade...?"

"It's Nora. You just accept it and move on."

 _a Bullhead ride to Beacon later..._

"So you're saying... Mister Cardin Winchester and his team attempted to corner your peers in an effort to extort your combat methods, only to be ambushed by a freak stampede of Grimm while you held back none other than Roman Torchwick... single-handedly?"

Listening to Ozpin actually say it aloud with a straight face seemed to Jaune to be a feat in itself, especially since a 30-second search engine query on a library computer before coming up to Ozpin's office revealed that this Roman guy had actually turned out to be... kind of a big deal.

"Mister Arc," Miss Goodwitch began as she pinched the bridge of her nose beside Ozpin, "If this story were to come from _any other student_... _every_ party involved would've received the utmost punishment permissible under Academic Law for failing a core curriculum assignment, purposefully antagonizing and provoking higher-grade Grimm into a horde-level threat, and providing an inflated false testimony in an effort to minimize the gravity of the prior offenses with some fabricated, ostentatious noble motive..."

Jaune raised a brow at the Deputy, still putting in an effort not to snap at this woman with whom he'd been trying to bury the hatchet... and not his bones, "And... Since I'm _not_ 'any other student'?"

"Teams RWBY and JNPR are to be given the rest of the day off to recuperate while Mister Winchester and his teammates visit Professor Oobleck to receive one of his more... _infamous_... detention assignents," Ozpin lightly remarked in reply.

"..."

Glynda glanced up in thought, recalling the prompt given at the time of delivering the four meatheads to their grisly fate, "I believe this time was the ten-thousand word research thesis propositioning the best methods to survive in a deserted, uninhabitable planet alone for four years whilst living in an airtight facility designed to last only thirty-one days..."

"Oh, that's a new one," Ozpin noted with a surprisingly placid tone, "And the permitted research materials for said thesis?"

"Hmm... I believe it was limited to one beginner's manual for the scientific field of botany."

With an impressed nod, Ozpin then turned to face Jaune with a knowing grin, "There. Justice has been served."

"Not when _I_ have to be the one to grade their appalling grammar and mediocre attempts at basic arithmetic..."

"Now now, I'm positive that doing so will become much easier after I've introduced you to the wonders of an Éireannach Coffee and a hearty meal."

"If by hearty, you mean _waffles_ , then I suppose I must at the very least attempt to lecture you about the merits of proper nutrition."

"No need. Such morsels of wisdom are best suited for this Academy's youth, not an old codger like myself."

Glynda rolled her eyes as she made to check her tablet and order their meals, "At least opt for a more modern dish. I hear pancakes are all the rage among the students these days."

"Poppycock. Pancakes were accidentally invented when a waffle artisan accidentally spilt a measure of waffle batter on a heated grill and the batter resigned itself into settling down and becoming the world's first flapjack. Pancakes are quite literally the illegitimate children of waffles - therefore, I refuse to claim them as edible," the Headmaster replied amiably to the off-put deputy before concluding, "Very well, Mister Arc. If that'll be all..."

About to continue in his daily routine, Ozpin paused as he saw the conflicted expression on his student's face, Glynda catching on to the boy's apprehension and pausing as well.

"Actually... there was something else I wanted to run by you. Two things, really."

Folding his arms on the desk in front of him, the Headmaster remained seated as he readjusted his glasses with his free hand, "Pray tell."

"Well, for starters," Jaune began slowly, trying to think of the best way to put it - it _was_ his first time stretching what should've been a short conversation, after all, "You know how I said once that is managed to move reset points forward by letting others try and connect to my Aura? I... think I might've figured out a way to do it on my own."

Ozpin turned to face Gynda, who returned a blank expression before the Headmaster turned to face the young leader with a small smile, "Excellent! That wasn't too hard to say, was it? I'm certain this must be a Vanguard timeline if you're deliberating so much before you speak..."

A cocked brow from the knight prompted the Headmaster to continue, "Vanguard. The forefront of a pioneer force blazing forward into the unknown, be it war, a new frontier, or in your case... time itself. It seemed like something you might favor, did you think of a similar name for these primary loops?"

"Exactly the same, as a matter of fact," Jaune noted slowly, his brows still slightly furrowed at the man in front of him.

"Then I suppose the suggestion of its use is no longer necessary. I'd certainly recommend you look into honing this ability - you may not have a willing comrade around to help you shift your reset point indefinitely."

Jaune took a moment more, glancing back and forth between the even glare of his Headmaster and the inquisitive gaze from his Deputy before letting out a small sigh to relax himself, "Well I can't... because today at Three Forty-Eight PM exactly, I'm pretty sure I'm going to die."

A few blinks from the Professors before Glynda broke the silence first.

"How?"

"No idea. I don't see it coming, but it happens no matter what I say or where I am. At first, I didn't even think I'd _died_ because of how sudden it was... but last time may have proved otherwise."

Ozpin took a long-delayed sip from his mug, brows furrowing ever so slightly in question, "How so?"

"...I think I was shot."

"Where were you at time of death?"

"You mean time of loop?" a short pause as Glynda shot Jaune a quick deadpan for his correction, "I'm in the cafeteria."

Glynda turned to face Ozpin with some concern, "The cafeteria is a low building with high-rise windows near the center of campus. A sniper shot would be next to impossible from anywhere outside campus, which means our shooter may already be on campus at this moment."

Ozpin turned down to tap the desk in front of him a few times, the whole tabletop surprisingly coming to life as rows of holographic screens digitally rose from the constraints of the two-dimensional plane under their elbows, "It is currently shortly after Three Forty PM... continue your routine as normal, and we will attempt to locate the aggressor from here. Glynda, please ensure the kitchen holds our supper until further notice. Whether said aggressor is related to Roman Torchwick or not, we will be sure to alert Valean authorities to his sighting in Forever Fall to set up appropriate search parties after we're finished here as well."

Turning up to give Jaune a level glare, however, Ozpin continued, "As for you, Mister Arc, it seems that the conscious reach of your Semblance can only go so far. Be mindful of this, for in even the tightest of defenses, there will always be gaps. These must be mended and closed as soon as possible, and the best way for this matter to be resolved is for you to _survive_. I trust you've come up with a viable plan to do so?"

"That I have," Jaune nodded with a hint of a smirk which faded as he continued, "Though, figuring what to tell everyone's gonna be a real pain..."

"Well. If it's any consolation," Ozpin noted as he tapped a holographic button that opened the elevator doors at the entrance of the office, "If it's one thing I've learned with what life experience I have, it's that it turns out that if you never lie, there's _always_ someone mad at you."

Jaune made to open his mouth as Miss Goodwitch actually held a hand up to cover her face and shake her head, but decided to go along with it anyway.

"I literally have no argument against that."

"Of course you don't. Three Forty-Three..."

Checking his scroll, Jaune nodded in affirmation and let himself out through the elevator.

He'd definitely have to bypass dropping off his weapons at the lockers before booking it to the cafeteria. For once, he was actually looking forward to the alphabet soup and the puns that came along with it...

 _meanwhile, elsewhere in the Valean industrial district..._

"You bite off more than you can chew, Roman dear..."

The three figures walked into the wide storage area full of Dust containers as the single figure in the room that had been previously been staring out the high warehouse Windows above them turned back to face the newcomers.

"Have I? Because my jaws feel just fine."

"You will not be feeling much at all if you've done anything to compromise our agenda," Cinder noted smoothly as she entered the light, generating light of her own as a flame burst to life in her upheld palm.

Unfazed, Roman simply raised his cane at them pointedly, "Course not, you think I started on this line of work yesterday!? No! I used my own hired men, nothing that'd link me to your lovable band of revolutionaries down the line. You're not the only one with your eye on the ball here, this is a win for everybody!"

The fire in her hand not going out, Cinder's raised brow and glowing visible eye prompted him to continue.

"Look, gorgeous, in case you're not familiar with the saying... or sports... or fun in general... a pitch can come in many ways. It's not about taking a crack at it, it's about positioning - strategy - sending that sucker flying to the right spot so the other players with you can make the best move! If anything, going at it like this made your job easier - think about it, the illustrious Roman Torchwick spotted in the woods... what nefarious plans can this master criminal be protecting so far out in the boonies!? SWAT will be mobilized, jets will be scrambled, the whole woods will be scoured clean for something they'll never find... therefore, leaving your next marks wide open for the taking way ahead of schedule!"

Emerald crossed her arms with a small smirk behind Cinder, shaking her head as she spoke up, "That Roman... really likes to monologue."

"Now what makes you think deciding how the agenda gets moved around is _your_ call?" Mercury challenged with a raised brow.

"Now now, Mercury," Cinder softly cut in, her two associates immediately dropping their gazes on Roman to grant her their full attention, "Keep in mind that Roman _was_ given authority over how to go about this task since he knows the city and Academy better than most... How'd you once put it, 'If you want to get to know the town, ask the rats'? Besides, his argument does present a point... this is a rare opportunity of which we'd be unwise to not take advantage."

"That's right," Roman concurred before steeling his gaze on Mercury, "And _rat_ , huh? I'll remember that, you little runt."

Emerald made to reach for her own weapons, a scowl on her lips as she shot back, "Remember? And do what?"

Roman simply replied with a knowing tight-lipped grin, raising both brows as if stating the obvious, "Buy you two eager beavers some more ice cream!"

"Unf, didn't see that one coming," Mercury muttered as his shoulders slackened in agreement, "That _did_ turn out to be a really good idea..."

Immediately going about as red as her irises, Emerald glared at her partner behind Cinder's back as she whispered heatedly, " _Mercury. Do not. Confirm. ANYTHING_."

"What. Obviously, he already knows."

"Well... _now_ I know..."

Her knuckles paling at how tightly her fists were balled at Roman's last remark, Emerald turned to face him in the hopes of glaring daggers through his head, " _Youuu_... are a _terrible_ person."

"Meh. It's a gift."

"Scandal aside," Cinder quipped with a sigh, jumping on the chance to segway the conversation back onto the topic at hand, "I also asked for you to _give_ us any information you could glean on the students."

"Honestly though, _that?_ That's not good for business," Roman noted, motioning back and forth between Mercury and Emerald until Cinder's nonplussed expression motivated him to get back on topic as well, "As for the kiddos... we got lucky. The three best teams in the first-year class were there."

"And whyyy would I care about a sorry group of freshmen?"

"Aside from the fact that each of them are practically shoe-ins for the tournament on power alone," Roman noted pointedly, causing Cinder's expression to soften a bit in satisfaction of how much her newest recruit could figure out on his own, "Here's the kicker - two of those teams were featured in that nifty little initiation vid that got leaked a little while back."

"I see... not bad," the enchantress acquiesced with a sultry smirk, "And we're you able to ascertain any of their Semblances? I see you may already be getting an idea on why we might be asking for them..."

"Any chance I get the low-down on your master plan before I embarrass myself with a guess?"

Cinder practically hummed oht a small chuckle, a deceptive measure of mirth in her eyes as she nonetheless put out the flame in her palm and crossed her hands at hip level in front of her, "You'll know what you need, when you need to know~"

Despite the fact that she had seemingly taken a more relaxed stance, Roman wasn't about to let his guard down completely. But since an apprehensive master thief wouldn't paint a good light about him either, Roman sufficed with glaring back out the window from where he stood.

"Only one whom I faced directly - he got his fair share of nicks and scratches, but we left it at that. A little punk, no doubt, but strong."

"How strong?"

" _Very_ ," Roman noted sharply, turning to face Cinder, "He's a Tracer."

"My my," Cinder retorted coolly, though a bit surprised judging by the faint rise of the brow hidden by her obsidian hair, "That's quite the diagnosis. Though I fear 'nicks and scratches' on someone with a Trace-type Semblance is practically unheard of."

"Yeah, that's what I thought, too," Roman began as he started pacing a bit in front of the group, "But then I _really_ started thinking. You know, a high-level Tracer, they don't just figure out how objects and places work... they figure out people, too. And you do it long enough, then you figure out how the whole world works!"

Pausing his pacing to point at his small audience, he continued, clearly engrossed with an almost hostile passion in the theme, "And you know it as well as I do, that the world is a cruel, cruel place. People just ain't _meant_ to sense all the world's evils in one brain, y'know?" he enunciated, repeatedly tapping his head with the head of his cane, "So these Tracer people, they develop coping mechanisms just to deal with _knowing_... mostly some annoying little mannerisms; some drink, some do drugs, and others..."

Roman began pacing again as even Emerald and Mercury continued listening with intrigue, "Haha... _others_ , like our little friend Jaune Arc, they _punish_ themselves for knowing."

"So you're saying some young student _punished_ himself for successfully keeping you at a standstill?" Cinder noted with a nearly tangible hum of interest from the massive reservoir of Aura within her, slightly amused at how the criminal almost seemed to wilt at her own accurate deduction as well.

"Yes... I am. The kid knew where I was gonna hit almost before I started swinging, and the ones that landed that should've taken his head off were just glanced away with half-brained attempts at a dodge. Except they weren't. His counters were also some of the best I've ever seen..."

Another sigh before continuing, "A lot like a girl I once heard about. Once you understand just how messed up the world is at that level... it's just not pretty. You slowly become a beast yourself. Same thing with her - she went crazy talking about what the world once was and where it was headed, goin on and on about fairytales and such; hid herself from the world behind a mask until one day she finally disappeared. But no one can touch her skills with a blade."

"Interesting that someone like you would speak so animatedly about another," Cinder replied after a moment to process the strangely genuine words from her newest associate, "In the past _and_ present tenses. And this woman is a Tracer as well?"

"Nope. Rarer. Only four of them in the world at a time I think..."

Cocking her head at the thief, Cinder knew that Emerald and Mercury knew better than to even dare to flinch at the sight of a coalescing orange blade of superheated debris that began forming along the valley of Cinder's back as she smiled sweetly at the unsuspecting man, "I must say, that's quite a tale, Roman... any idea what _her_ Semblance could truly be?~"

A single shrug from the man in the bowler hat as he whipped out a new cigar, "No idea."

Mercury and Emerald only traded a momentary glance as they noticed Cinder's spear silently crumble to the floor in a harmless invisible cloud of dust in the dark, their attention drawn forward at the sight of Roman opening the head of his cane.

"Honestly though, I still got my lingering doubts about this Jaune kid," Roman continued as he widened the aperture of the chamber in his cane to empty out the minuscule pearls of polished Red Dust hidden within, "But there's only one way to find out. This way, we know if he's the real deal or not... and, I get to waste the punk if he isn't!"

Now Emerald couldn't help speaking up when she saw the man mount the cane on the crook of his shoulder like a single-barrel rifle and point it out the window above them, "And how do you intend to do that?"

"Well sweetie, maybe you've seen my personal insignia on the news?"

"...A pumpkin?"

"Oh Monty, they just don't make you broads like they used to. Except Mama Fall, of course..."

Acknowledging the narrow-eyed gaze he got from Cinder with a quick nervous smirk, Roman turned back to his weapon to continue while surprising Emerald and Mercury with an equally small and pearly ball of orange Aura that coalesced into his hand, "No no. A jack-o-lantern. Like this. A... _happy_... reminder that even if I'm a jack of all trades..."

He dropped the ball of aura into the open head of his cane, the aperture closing and turning the head of the cane a vivid orange as the body of its staff became elongated and marked with glowing orange lines on the sides.

"...I'm a master of only _one_. Alright Melodic Cudgel, sing me a song."

The lines in his weapon glowing brighter, the three onlookers watched it begin to hum as small sections of the cane seemed to rotate into locking positions, each locking motion generating a hum over hum that eventually created a single harmonic chord.

vvvvvvvvVVVVV _VVVVV_ - ** _ooooooom._**

A single gust of wind creating the only sound after the weapon fired, the force of compressed air violently returning to its place strongly ruffled the clothes of Roman's little audience several feet away.

Gazing into the sky immediately after its fire, Mercury was the first to comment, "I don't even see it anymore. How do you expect a tiny ball of Aura to hold together at that speed?"

"I don't," Roman sighed through his cigar, letting out a large plume of smoke as he glanced out the window a second longer and let his cane down so it could revert to its usual form, "My Aura's just the shell... the bullet's the air that gets compressed into it and protected during flight. Goes much faster, flies much farther... oh, and there's almost no Aura that can stop it. Y'know, since Aura's usually trained to only protect against solid objects and stuff."

Emerald drew back in confusion at that, "What? Who said-"

"Think about it. You know how Dust doesn't work in space? Our Auras are like that too - they let air through so we don't die, and they lose their power without it. Ergo, it lets air right through its defenses. And at the speed of impact, it might as well be a real bullet."

"Oh, but that's not your Semblance," Cinder teased with a knowing smirk, causing Roman to chuckle through another puff of smoke.

"No it isn't. My Semblance lets me locate people wherever they are as long as I've touched their most concentrated source of Aura - their blood. Obviously, I don't 'see' them, but I can sense them. And like looking at someone in person, the easiest way to do that is without anything in your way... so by focusing on the little punk's Aura signature, I know that if its at its highest level, then he's not moving and there's nothing in my way," he paused to point out the tiny hole in the window above them, "Like I said, the Aura shell can't take much of a beating, but that's where the third transformation of my precious companion comes in."

Emerald blinked in realization, "If he's at Beacon, then that's at least twenty miles away..."

"Which means a successful shot from this distance would break the current would record by over tenfold," Mercury added as well, daring to let even a small tone of wonder bleed through into his voice.

"Our very own bloodhound," Cinder nearly chuckled with a small smile at the criminal, "I knew there was more to you than your talk."

"Ah well here's the rub," Roman retorted, taking out the cigar with two fingers as he leaned on his cane with the other hand, "Only works with one person at a time. And they gotta stay put while the bullet gets there, obviously. So don't start goin to me for your contract multi-kills because that wouldn't be too efficient. I'll know if I hit my mark if the kid's 'light' goes out. But if he's a Tracer, then he'd have figured out how my weapon works already and will dodge it no problem."

"Estimated time of death?"

Roman checked his watch, "Three Forty-Seven. Shouldn't take more than a minute."

Cinder nodded in approval, glancing back at her two expectant associates before giving Roman a small grin, "Then we wait."

 _meanwhile, about twenty miles away..._

"I refrain from berating that statement since I yet hold on to the hope that you may be one of the few good ones left in this Academy... and for the last time, why on _Remnant_ are you wearing your shield like that!?"

The remaining four girls turned back with understanding nods towards the blonde leader who'd currently strapped said shield upside down to his back in a way that the point covered the backs of his neck and head as well, Jaune simply shrugging before leveling the heiress his flat reply.

"In case it rains."

"Wh-What kind of idiotic, _preposterous, **dolt-minded**_ idea would even merit such-"

 ** _sssPIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNG_**...

The extremely loud and high-pitched ringing immediately causing the girls to cover their ears and Jaune to lurch forward with the impact, he sat back up just as it subsided to calmly unstrap the shield from his back and gaze at the unharmed face of his unsung savior before collapsing it and replacing it at his hip.

"Y'know what. You're right Weiss, it was a pretty dumb idea. Must've been the stress of fighting getting to me for a bit back there."

A few blank stares from the girls, Weiss visibly conflicted about protesting a statement that was actually made in her favor, before Ruby broke the silence for her.

"Ooooooookay, then, subject change!" she declared with hopeful enthusiasm before directing herself to the rest of the group, "So next Friday we had a few free periods and Weiss thought it'd be a good idea to check out the town! You guys wanna tag along?"

"Isn't that... the day that the transfer students arrive for the Vytal Festival?" Pyrrha noted before glancing at Jaune in question, "What do you think?"

' _It's a bad idea, didn't happen the first time. It's a bad idea, didn't happen the first time..._ '

With the thought repeating in his head, Jaune slowly made what looked like a shrug, a nod, a head shake, and an eye roll all at the same time, "Iiiiii uhhhh meehhhhh _shhhuuure?_ "

Nora leaned towards Pyrrha and stated with a not so subtle whisper, "Give him Vikadin. I always slip some into Ren's drink when he's not looking whenever I feel he's having a bad day..."

"Rrrrright!" Ruby began again, clearly trying to maintain normal behavior despite Jaune's awfully strange one, "Next Friday it is then! I'll go tell Blake!"

 _back at the derelict and nondescript warehouse..._

"A full minute has gone by," Emerald finally announced, definitely amused with Roman's steadily increasing grumbling.

"Can't believe it, I _knew_ he'd do something like that," Roman growled as his pacing continued, "Knew it was coming and didn't even bother to dodge just to _screw_ with me! Shoulda just killed him in the forest!"

"Now now, Roman. No use crying over spilt milk," Cinder reasoned, though the subtly firm tone in her voice implicitly demanded that Roman pull it together _now_ , "It seems young Arc is indeed what you say he is. Have you word of the Semblances of any others?"

Taking a moment to regain his composure with a sigh and puff of smoke, Roman slowly nodded as he continued, "Yeah. Aside from the two thugs that had _supposedly_ come as 'highest recommended for combat' but we're clocked by the kid in the first minute, I had the rest of my boys posted around their little standoff the whole time to see how they'd handle the stampede of Grimm that a scout found a familiar Red Hooded girl from the Internet video shooting up into a frenzy. Little Schnee uses glyphs - big surprise, Red goes fast, Dark and Mysterious uses some sort of shadow clones, the four meatheads screamed like girls while being stung by rapier wasps, and that's about all they could see. I'd ask the others that had a better view of the commotion, but they got mauled."

Cinder cocked a brow at the new information, her curiosity clearly piqued about something, "And this Tracer... he showed no signs of knowledge on their whereabouts?"

Roman blinked once or twice before giving a slow shrug, "Didn't ask. But he never said anything."

"Hmmm... interesting," Cinder drawled, evidently happy with the information, "Then in his case, what's out of sight truly _is_ out of mind... we have effectively found this Tracer's blind spot. We will stay well out of his field of consciousness during and after our next move, and we will make sure any threat he may pose is neutralized in the tournament."

"But, Roman is still able to fire another shot," Mercury reasoned submissively, "Why doesn't he just fire another while the Tracer is sleeping?"

"Oh Mercury," Cinder replied almost motheringly, in the condescending way, as she let her hand rise back to his chest with enough slowly building heat to make him wince in pain, "Because I didn't _say_ so... Your job will be to gauge the full extent of his abilities once we are in the position to do so, and _specifically_ to not harm him. I'll be making sure Emerald adds Jaune Arc to the very _top_ of our list~"

Emerald nodded dutifully, doing her best not to wince along with Mercury's pain as she directed herself to her superior, "Yes, ma'am."

"And as for _you_ , Roman," Cinder continues as she slowly began to walk over to him, brushing her hand against his cane as she circled him, "While I admire your resourceful methods, I do not take disobedience lightly. You will ensure to run plans for future endeavors by me _first_ , since control is crucial to our operation..."

And stopping in front of him, her visible amber eye glowing as the entire area around the two seemed to heat up to the point that Roman found his collar too tight for comfort, Cinder concluded with the suave tone of any true femme fatale, "And you'll do best to _continue_ keeping your eye on the ball... because those who do not comply with orders will tell you that I'm known to throw _quite_ the heater~"

Clearing his throat, Roman gave a quick nod in assent, "Got it. Your show, your call."

"Good," she replied with a sweet smile, then turning to walk back to her associates, "Alright you two, we've much work to do. I'll be in touch with our contact in the Fang so that we're ready for the incoming shipment of Dust next Friday, if I'm not mistaken, and the two of you will ensure our new... transfer documents... go through smoothly. Have a good afternoon, Roman~"

Sending them off with a sarcastically enthusiastic wave even though he could no longer be seen, Roman simply turned back out to focus on the distant flicker of Aura outside the warehouse window as he began to idly reach into his pocket.

"Don't worry, Arc. Your time will come."

Finally finding his desired object, Roman pulled out a single business card which might've looked like a tri-color flag if it weren't for the unique color scheme - brown stripe on the left, white stripe in the middle, and pink stripe on the right. Pulling out his scroll device, he dialed the number on the back to begin the video call. Strangely enough, the only option was for video calls...

"Hello? Yes, hi. I'm looking for a merc for hire... the less unnecessary back talk and whining, the better. For the sake of my health and sanity, I _hope_ I've come to the right place."

* * *

 **A/N:** _And that's how **TPS** kicks off 2016. With randomness, repeat puns, and Easter Eggs. And Sniper Torchwick._

 _I mean, why **is** it called Melodic Cudgel, eh? Pfft, the show sure doesn't give an explanation, so I figured I'd provide one. And it served to outline a HUGE flaw in Jaune's Semblance which I think will only become more important - and dangerous - with time. The bigger the power, the bigger the weakness. Of course, it all cuts both ways... even the great Cinder has a weakness. But as with all phenomenon having to do with mother nature, usually its biggest 'strengths' are really just its weaknesses in disguise. So yep._

 _In other news, Jaune has a headache. And girl issues. Pretty much the same thing._

 _Up next, dock troubles! Yay! Some may notice how closely I'm following events in canon (pretty much covered everything up to the Jaundice episodes, so what comes next is obvious) if only just to see how far Jaune can jack it all up! Bigger YAY! **But what obstacles will be in his way? What death will he die next? What ship will be christened first!?** So many questions, and so many answers... but I'm pretty sure 96.7% of everyone crazy enough to read this story all the way through the end will hate the answer I chose. But that remains to be seen!_

In other news, I'm glad I was right about my guess that Raven was a maiden - hinted in the chapter heh - only took two years to verify... however, the implications following that may be very very interesting. I'll have to see if i wanna explore that in this fic or another later.

 _Until then, please feel free to **Fave, Follow, and Review** to show your support (donations would be appreciated, but apparently I can't link to my profile page. Boooo) and keep the great reviews and predictions - and poll votes! - coming! So take care,_

 ** _And_** ** _Happy Reading!_**

* * *

 _ **Live. Die. Repeat.**_

 _TPS (c) 2015, 2018_


	9. Strayed Again

**_Strayed Again_**

* * *

"Jaune..."

 _I don't know what to do... Do you believe in destiny?_

"Jaune, you still with me?"

"Hm? Uh, yeah yeah," the knight suddenly replied, eyes shooting open if only still a bit half-lidded as his surroundings came into focus, "I-I guess that depends on how you view it..."

"Wait... huh?" Ruby began, her cheeks beginning to redden as she conjured up a possible interpretation, "I mean, wh-whaddaya mean? I was just checking if you're with me consciously, not... anything else... I mean, not that it'd be a bad thing! About anything else! Or-"

"Okay, okay," Jaune noted warmly, placing a hand on Ruby's shoulder as he regained his bearings even if the meaning of her words went over his head entirely, "I'm with you. But I'll be moving very far _away_ from you if you start making a scene like that again..."

Just then, the Bullhead they were on gave a small lurch through the air, the knight ensuring to keep a hold on his companion's shoulder so she wouldn't stumble under the surprise movement.

"Thanks," she replied gratefully when his action proved successful in keeping her from losing her footing, the girl glancing up at him with a hint of curiosity, "You really _did_ get over your being airsick, didn't you..."

"Sure did. Only had to puke more times that mortal men should ever have to toss their cookies in a lifetime."

"Please don't use _cookies_ and _puke_ in the same sentence," Ruby retorted with a small wince before adding with an amiable smirk, "And I'm sure it wasn't that bad getting over it..."

Jaune simply let out a long sigh as his gaze drifted towards the distant forest while the aircraft approached the city of Vale, "You'd... be surprised."

"Uh huh. So... what _did_ you mean when you were coming to just now?" the crimsonette asked, the curiosity no longer able to be contained, "Everything went okay with the top up just now, right?"

It had been another week or so since the field trip, the two teams having made their way through classes like any other group of students having to fight their way through a school that literally involved fighting to pass class at all. Well, except for Jaune, at least. Much to his relief - and surprisingly, a small measure of chagrin - Ozpin had placed Jaune on a previously unknown 'exempt' list for sparring classes due to 'latent medical conditions pending further investigation.'

Leave in to the Headmaster to come through in the most unexpected ways when you needed it.

In any case, the first Aural connection he'd made in a week seemed to be a little more intense than usual. Maybe it was the longer time since his last top up. Maybe it was the longer time since his last death. Heck, for all he knew... it was coming from the increased proprioception gained from the physical training routine Ozpin had given him that Jaune had stuck to every day as promised. But the knight had figured that a day in town would likely be best prefaced with a top up... just in case.

"Yeah, everything went fine," Jaune noted, glancing at his hand as he willed Aura into and around it to check for potency, "It was just a little more reactive than other times."

"Reactive?"

"Yeah. Like when I sleep, I dream about stuff I did during the day... maybe it's my Semblance, but I don't really dream about anything else anymore. But when I connect with someone's _Aura_ , it's stronger. Like this time, I remembered something that I'd talked to someone about a very long time ago," Jaune paused, his gaze going up to glance towards his partner who stood by an engaged Weiss in conversation at the other end of the aircraft, "...Or a very long time from now."

Ruby cocked her head at the knight, "So... you can see the future now?"

"Heh, only if I've lived it. You see, the first time I jumped back, I didn't have you to keep me from having to repeat everything all over again because I didn't even know I _had_ this Semblance... so long story short, I ended up going back and pretty much repeating this whole school year. What's wrong?"

Jaune's brows furrowed a bit when he saw Ruby draw back, her expression certainly confused among other things, "So wait. You're telling me... that everything we've done... initiation, the field trip, and even today... you've already done before, right? And that if any of us do anything, or say anything... or _feel_ anything... you already know it? Wouldn't that almost be like playing us and our feelings since you already know what's gonna happen?"

"Huh. I actually hadn't thought of it that way before," Jaune noted as he glanced up in thought, Ruby's eyes beginning to narrow at him in suspicion until he looked back at her with a matter-of-factly expression, "But technically no. I tried to tell you on the roof, but I know a lot more now than I did then."

"Wasn't that only like, three weeks ago?"

"Not for me. See, time is a funny thing, especially when you're looking at the future from a point in the past. I think of it this way - looking into the future you came from changes it, just because you looked at it. And that changes everything else. In other words, the simple fact I came back in time changed the future... initiation changed from what I remembered, the field trip changed from what I remembered, and now even today is different - I don't remember today ever even happening in the first place!"

Ruby's face softened if only because she began to pout to the side, "So... you don't already know what any of us are gonna do? Like... you and me...?"

"What do you mean? Of course not. If anything, you and I are better friends than we ever were the first time around!" Jaune noted with a small smile, Ruby's countenance finally ebbing away into a sense of relief that sort of surprised him while he continued, "But thinking about our top up just now, I just remembered that I'd had a conversation like this before once... about destiny."

Once more curious about the nature of her fellow leader's past... or future... Ruby replied, "Did we have that conversation?"

"No... it was with someone else," Jaune noted, resisting the urge to glance once more at his emerald-eyed partner, "See, you might think destiny is some sort of predetermined fate you can't escape. But if it exists, maybe it's some sort of final goal; y'know, something you work towards your whole life. Come to think of it... for the first time, I believe that more than ever now. That the whole point of time travel... the whole point of my _Semblance_... isn't to change my fate. It's to change my _destiny_..."

Ruby couldn't quite place it, but her curiosity turned to concern as his features darkened a bit when he spoke. It was almost like when her dad or Qrow would tell her and Yang Hunter stories when they were little girls - they'd talk all happy, their faces would do the exact same thing as they got to certain parts of the story, and then they'd just skip that part altogether.

It had taken her a few years to realize that the parts her dad and Qrow would skip had to do with death, worst of all death of friends they had once held dear. But... Jaune, wasn't a Hunter, not yet. At least, that's what he'd said. So... what did he go through that would give him that kind of reaction?

"Jaune... you never did tell me how it is you go back. Like you say, how you reset a loop..."

Just like she expected. The expression was there, just as gloomy and somber as when he first tried to explain his ability on the ledge.

Jaune found himself in a tough position once again, stalling a bit to organize his thoughts by nervously scratching the back of his head, "Well... I-"

"There you two are!"

And in the next second, both leaders found themselves in the uncomfortable vice-like grip of a certain brawler, Jaune's face instantly going red from both the constriction of the headlock and his proximity to her tender bits, "Good news and bad news! Good news - we're about to land! Bad news - Weiss somehow convinced everyone to check out the docks for incoming travel students, which puts us at a five-to-four disadvantage!"

"Yaaaaaang, bad!" Ruby protested to no avail, trying to get out of the headlock by pushing both hands firmly against her sister's right breast to separate it from her face, "And aren't there only eight of us here!?"

"Blake voted against both sides."

"Yang, I'm not one to threaten a girl, but," Jaune began nervously, grunting as the grip around him began to tighten in realization, "I-If you don't let go... I'll be forced to tickle you!"

"Oho, is that a _promise_ , Jauney-boy?~ Cuz I'll have you know, my only ticklish spot is right in my inner thig- WAH!"

 ** _THUNK THUNK THUNK_**

And in the next second, the three teens were separated and gravity-glued to two separate walls - with Jaune up on the ceiling - by three blue glyphs propagated from Myrtenaster and the straight-faced heiress wielding it.

"Xiao Long, your molestation and attempted seduction of Jaune is appalling. And Ruby, I expected better from my partner. I don't even have words to describe a young woman who would grope her own sister..."

Despite being upside-down on the wall, Ruby's face went paper white as she frantically attempted a rebuttal, "B-But, _Weiss!_ I-"

"Hm. I'd ship it," Blake muttered as the rest of the group came by as spectators on the situation, her unconsciously verbal statement causing her some consternation as it drew a few questioning glances, "I mean: Look, we've landed."

Her saving grace being the fact that they'd actually just landed, the ravenette blew a wavy lock of hair out of her eyes in relief as Weiss let the students down from their constraints - Jaune falling from the ceiling to the floor with a loud _crack_ \- before the students stared at his unmoving form in question. Nora of course was the first to speak.

"Weiss... did you just revenge-break Jaune?"

* * *

"Jaune... you still with me?"

Needless to say, he was a little peeved that hearing Nora's remark in his last moments of life had turned out to be true. Sure, despite the obscenely huge pool of Aura he had under his command, it naturally kept an output of nearly zero unless he was actively concentrating on it. And sure, that made it easier for him to execute his Semblance and learn from his mistakes... but at times, dying like that was just annoying.

Reminded him of his initiation day(s).

He only sighed before he began, "Yeah... depends on how you view it."

Though the conversation continued much like it had the first time, Jaune had two prevailing thoughts crossing the back of his mind after Ruby began to stutter adorably at his initial comment. First and foremost were the words he'd once heard from Pyrrha. Was she right? Could this idea of destiny apply to time itself...? He'd already thought of this hundreds of times, but a new point of view sure had a way of keeping things interesting.

Jaune recalled that even though events could be changed, the little things had a little more resilience. Like how he could change what he said or salvage a diverging situation to gain the same reaction... if he had only that to go on, then he might've even said that Ozpin's metaphor to divergences in time being like a river flowing around a single rock would be accurate. It may diverge for a moment, only to come back together and converge behind it as if nothing ever happened. That clearly wasn't the case in practice, however. But even when he learned that bigger things could be changed, his having learned to find certain focal points in the timeline that didn't seem to change had certainly seemed to present 'goals' for him to reach.

Initiation... the field trip... and, hadn't team RWBY gone out to town one day the first time around? Something had happened after that, he just couldn't put his finger on it...

So was this... destiny? Could this have been what Pyrrha was talking about? These points in time weren't gonna change - the dance was still gonna happen, the team assignments were still gonna happen, and he could bet a thousand loops the tournament was still gonna happen! - so by changing the outcome of these points... could he then change his destiny? Could he really save his friends? It was a chance the knight was more than willing to take, and boy he'd enjoy looking at Ozpin's face when he did.

"Jaune... you never did tell me how it is you go back. Like you say, how you reset a loop..."

Important thought number two: what on Remnant was Ruby thinking!? Jaune had always known that his fellow leader was as sharp as her blade, but at this rate... she'd figure out his Semblance on her own. And he certainly didn't want that day to come; he'd much rather reveal the details of his ability on his own terms, but for now... he had bigger and bouncier things to attend to-

 _THWAP_

Jaune's grin followed his successful high block of his fellow blonde's ensnaring arm, distracting Ruby just long enough to get trapped under the headlock of her sister on the other side, "HAH! Sorry Yang, _Xiao Long_ did you did you think it'd take before I figured out your evil wa-OOMPH!"

And after receiving a quick knee to the gut, Jaune being doubled over made it that much easier for the grinning brawler to reach her arm around his neck and bury her hand and forearm underneath the collar of his sweater, "Sorry sweetie, you were saying? Oooh... I'm feeling some very yummy toned pecs in there... I hope you don't mind if I cop a feel? After all, I'm pretty sure you're feeling mine~"

"Bergh... forcin mah face intah dem duznt _count_ ," Jaune muttered angrily from beside her tender bits, remembering to mend the divergence before it could get any worse, "And why're yah ev'n _here!?_ "

Yang looked up in thought, keeping her interest's face planted firmly in her side as Ruby continued her own struggle against the opposite one, "Oh right, thanks for reminding me! Good news and bad news! Good news - we're about to land! Bad news - Weiss somehow convinced everyone to check out the docks for incoming travel students, which puts us at a five-to-four disadvantage!"

"Yaaaaaang, bad!" Ruby protested to no avail, trying to get out of the headlock by pushing both hands firmly against her sister's right breast to separate it from her face, "And aren't there only eight of us here!?"

"Lemme guess," Jaune noted as he finally got his head free to take a quick gasp for air, "Blake voted against both sides."

Yeah. A world where Jaune actually died from being suffocated against female breasteses was one he could not and would not deign himself to imagine. He would gladly even resort to nip-pinching if he had to in order to avoid it.

Yang's grip lessened a bit on the knight if only to get a good look at his face as she replied while adopting a scandalous expression, "Well doesn't _somebody_ know our resident mystery of a bookworm well enough already?~ _Jauney-poo_ , don't tell me you're cheating on your future waifu with her own _partne_ \- WAH!"

 ** _THUNK THUNK_**

And in the next second, the three teens were separated and gravity-glued to two separate walls by two blue glyphs propagated from Myrtenaster and the straight-faced heiress wielding it... leaving a cross-armed Jaune standing right in front of her with a smug smirk.

"Thanks for the save, Weiss. I never knew you cared."

Immediately going red at the implication, Weiss barked in response, "In your dreams, Arc! I merely intervened because Xiao Long's molestation and attempt to seduce you was _appalling_. As for my _partner_ , I expected better from Ruby! I don't even have words to describe a young woman who would grope her own sister..."

Despite being upside-down on the wall, Ruby's face went paper white as she frantically attempted a rebuttal, "B-But, _Weiss!_ I-"

"Hm. I'd ship it," Blake muttered as the rest of the group came by as spectators on the situation, her unconsciously verbal statement causing her some consternation as it drew a few questioning glances, "I mean: Look, we've landed."

Her saving grace being the fact that they'd actually just landed, the ravenette blew a wavy lock of hair out of her eyes in relief as Weiss let the students down from their constraints and stared hard at the knight.

"Arc. _How_."

"How what?" he replied glibly, an ear to ear grin on his face as his teasing of the heiress had its desired effect.

"I wanted to _see_ you pinned to the ceiling beyond all hope of saving but through my hand - _why_ did it not _happen!?_ "

"Easy. Your casting lag is abominable - in your terms - and you can feel it coming a mile away as long as you're paying attention."

The students now standing around the pair rooted in place by the unexpected affront to the Schnee's pride, they were only further surprised as she simply sheathed her weapon with a huff, "My sister used to tell me that."

"Wait, you have a," Jaune began while cocking his head to the side, a memory and grim realization of her fate quickly causing him to cut himself short, "Oh. Sister."

He would do everything in his power to ensure that her fate in his memories never became real again.

"Still, all you've done is explain an offense I already know. How'd you counter it, Arc."

Jaune shrugged, "Well I figured that if most Semblances are the same, they're preceded by a burst of Aura. Everybody knows that Aura can be countered with Aura, so I'd use the same strategy against you as what I did to Glynda... counter with a flash of my own Aura."

A moment of silence prevailed in the room until Weiss let her shoulders droop in disbelief with a scoff, "You call that an _explanation!?_ What you've described isn't a strategy, it's physically impossible! Countering the release of something as unpredictable as Aura with your own using the correct timing and spatial vectors is like shooting a bullet out the air with a smaller bullet-!"

"Blindfolded, whilst riding a horse!" Nora added exuberantly, to which Ren placed a hand on her shoulder with a shake of his head in sign for her stop... despite the small smirk on his face as he did it.

"Well it helps when you know it's coming," Jaune muttered, though the return of Weiss' piercing glare on him caused him to speak up, "Oh look I think I see a boat!"

"Oh yay," Ruby cut in quickly in an effort to save Jaune from further interrogation, "Lets go!"

As the automated Bullhead pulled away, leaving the eight students standing in the streets of Vale, Weiss and Ruby stayed to the side to discuss - or argue, more accurately - the fastest way to the docks while the remaining students waited a few feet away.

"You know, I do find it interesting now that I think about it," Ren surprisingly began in question, usually never one to strike up a conversation, "How someone could counter another Semblance like that. It's almost unheard of, even for those with... the rarest of Semblances."

Jaune panicked for only a moment, but being that it was Ren, it likely wouldn't do to back out of at least trying to explain more to someone he'd technically revealed his Semblance to, even if it was a lie propagated over a lie in mixed company. At least it made his conscience feel better.

"It's tough to explain... and if anything, I really wouldn't say it has anything to do with my Semblance. I've just had plenty of chances to study these types of attacks... up _close_ ," Jaune finished with a slight wince, Pyrrha now the one to note the implication with a slight nod.

"That must've required great lengths of training before arriving at Beacon, likely a regimen that rivals those imposed on me by Mistral's finest trainers if you're able to summon Aura with such control. That's, truly impressive, Jaune..."

The knight smiled warmly at the Mistrali, one that she reciprocated in kind as he replied, "And coming from someone as skilled as you, that means a lot, Pyr. Thanks. But it really wasn't much - Glynda's was much harder to figure out without the visual cues of glyphs and stuff, but it's in the same family of Semblances. In Weiss' case, she just focuses on her point of interest, wills her Aura to it in the form of a glyph, and pumps it with the Dust power from her- wait a second..."

Jaune looked down in curiosity at his hand, willing his Aura to coalesce around it and being totally unsurprised when it did so with a cobalt blue energy. He grinned even as the remaining five students stared at it in surprise, "Guess I'm right. I countered Weiss' glyph, but the Dust still went through. Guess that means I got 'gravity hands' till the Dust runs out... let's put it to the test, hehe..."

Pointing his hands at Nora, the hammer maiden yelped as a visible increase in blue brightness from Jaune's hands preceded a tug from behind her, pulling her massive weapon off her back hilt-first into his hand. Of all the reactions, Ren's slack-jawed one was likely the most satisfying to the knight as he then began to twirl and swing the weapon with ease as he'd remembered Nora doing to him dozens of times.

" _Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of the Valkyrie_ ," Nora drawled in utter awe, "Our fearless leader... is truly worthy..."

Ren nodded in agreement. Truly, Jaune was.

Of course, until the Dust ran out. As soon as the blue energy in his hands fizzled back to white, the hammer unceremoniously dropped to the ground like a lead block. However, Nora giggled as she skipped over and gave her leader a surprise hug, then picked up Magnihild to sling it over her back like nothing.

"That was for making my day!" she noted happily as she made her way back to Ren's side, Ruby and Weiss rejoining the group with slight confusion at the lingering awe in the air.

"Uhm, did we miss anything?" Ruby asked, to which Blake replied before burying her head in a book.

"Not unless Weiss decides to impale Jaune with an icicle anytime soon."

" _Don't_... give her any ideas," Jaune noted flatly, leveling Blake with a surprisingly Blake-level glare. This however only seemed to amuse the ravenette as the students began to follow the White Rose lead.

"We're supposed to make a left here."

"No we're not, we go straight."

"Left."

"Straight!"

"Oh c'mon, follow the pukie smell of fish, it's obviously left!"

As Ruby and Weiss continued their back and forth, Blake warily narrowed her eyes at the blue-eyed blonde giving her a knowing smirk. She finally conceded, rolling her eyes before stepping forward.

"Guys," Blake interrupted calmly, her gaze barely lifting from the book as she turned the page, "I think Ruby's right. It's a left. I... know this place. From a book or something."

Jaune facepalmed, but apparently since it was Blake and she was referring to a book of some sort, it seemed legit to everyone else.

"See? Told you I was right!"

"Oh, don't be a pest!"

Sure enough, the group made it towards the docks in little time after turning, the heiress grinning as the _WELCOME TO VALE_ sign put up by a guy Ruby could've swore she could recognize and the first boat came into view.

"The Vytal Festival! Oh, this is absolutely _wonderful_!"

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much, Weiss," Ruby stated before frowning a bit, "It's kinda weirding me out..."

"How could you _not_ smile? A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances! Parades! A tournament! Oh, the amount of planning and organization that goes into this event is simply _breathtaking!_ "

Yang sighed, crossing her arms as the group paused and listened to Weiss' explanation, "You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring."

"Quiet, you!"

As the group began once more, Jaune couldn't help but wonder if this is what might've happened when they went out as a team the first time. Seeing them like this was actually pretty cool, if anything. Yang glanced around once more as the eight students stopped near the docks and the sounds of foghorns could be heard.

"Remind me again why we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks?"

"Ugh, saying they smell like fish was an understatement!"

Jaune caught Blake making a silent _hmph_ before Weiss replied magnanimously, "I've heard that students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today. And, as a _representative_ of Beacon, I feel as though it is my _solemn_ duty to welcome them to this _fine_ kingdom!"

"She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament."

The heiress scoffed at Blake's final remark as she walked away, "You can't prove that!"

Chuckling a bit at the banter, Jaune's attention was diverted when a flash of yellow caught his eye, his and Ruby's gazes being the first to catch the mass of yellow police tape around the corner.

"Whoa."

Jaune and Ruby traded a concerned glance before he stepped forward to a detective casing the perimeter for evidence, "What happened here?"

"Robbery. Second Dust shop to be hit this week," he replied, barely paying the kid any mind as he turned over some stray rubble with a stylus, "This place is turning into a jungle."

Yang sighed sadly as she approached the leaders' sides, "That's terrible."

"They left all the money again."

"Huh?" Ruby questioned as she heard a second detective calling out to the first from within the store.

"Yeah, just doesn't make a lick of sense. Who needs that much Dust?"

"I don't know, an army?"

"You thinking the White Fang?"

 _What's going on? There's been an explosion!_

 _The Fang, all security engage!_

 _There are too many! Retrea- **gerk!**_

And in that moment, a few loose gears in Jaune'd head clicked into place, unleashing a wall of memories he'd soon admit he wasn't quite ready to handle all at once. That name... that... _THAT **NAME!**_

"Yeah, I'm thinking- _whoah kid what's wrong with you!?_ "

Jaune cried out in fury, his Aura flaring in spurts as he first fell to his knees under the unbearable weight of compounded lives crashing upon him like a giant stone slab and then bashed both fists on the ground in front of him repeatedly. How'd he not put it together before!

 _BAM!_

 _They_ were the ones who'd planned the assault on the Tournament!

 _BAM!_

 _They_ were the ones behind the surprise attack on the Hunters!

 _BAM!_

So _they'd_ been planning it for months, amassing all the Dust - for what? For _what!? The pointless deaths of so many!?_

 _BAM!_

"Jaune, stop!" "You're hurting yourself!"

Maybe it was the ringing in his ears, or maybe it was the fact that he was still roaring as hard as he could, but what he thought was one plea was actually two when he found Ruby grabbing onto his side with her entire frame... while Pyrrha latched onto his other arm with enough magnetic force to stop an 18-wheeler in its tracks. Right. He had his armor on.

"Jeez, kid! You tryin' to destroy evidence or somethin'? Where are your parents! Joel, get 'im cuffed 'till we can calm him down!"

"Sorry Burnie, but uh... you even _lookin_ at the same kid I am right now? I ain't goin' near him."

"Please, don't!" Ruby cried out in his defense, "We're so sorry, he's never done anything like this before; h-he won't do it again, right Jaune!?"

She glanced at the heavily-panting knight beside her, his Aura still pulsing around them as he remained kneeled on the ground with both young women still restraining his arms at his sides before a single drop of sweat fell from his brow. It was strange... for such an intense outburst, one the knight could almost swear he'd _never_ had before, he suddenly felt more at ease. Not simply just because of his friends at his side, but almost as if something within had been... _liberated_.

Taking a final deep breath, Jaune regained enough composure to rein in his Aura and slowly lift his head towards her.

"R-Right... I'm sorry... Ruby. Kinda ruined your day, huh..."

"Heh, nope," she retorted lightly before bopping his sweat-matted forehead with hers, "You're just being a butthead, that's all. We'll talk about it and it'll be all better... Just let the two nice cops know that you're okay and we'll be good to go, 'kay?"

Right.

Glancing up at the two policemen who unsurprisingly had their hands reached around their backs and likely way past second base with the handles of their firearms, Jaune nodded the two girls away from his sides... and back at Weiss so she could dissipate the blue gravity glyph underneath him... before glancing at the men and slowly standing.

"My name is Jaune Arc. First-year Hunter-in-training at Beacon Academy," taking a deep breath, he continued with cold steel in his voice belying his years that surprised both the cops and his friends behind him, "And The White Fang took my friends. My home. My _life_. _Everything_ I once held dear. I apologize for my actions... but I _cannot_ guarantee they won't happen again. I hope you understand."

The two cops merely glanced nervously between the eerily calm student and the scarily massive crater in the concrete sidewalk in front of him before trading a nervous glance between each other.

"Eh... heheh, that's... good enough, right, Burnie?"

"Y'know what, Joel? The kid uh, caught me in a good mood today, so... kid, just make sure you don't do that on city property or active crime scenes again and we'll call it a deal."

Jaune gave a short nod, "Deal."

Turning to walk away, the knight simply walked past his peers who followed with a mix of confusion and concern to leave the two cops scratching their heads at the Dust store behind them. Finally reaching his side to ask, Ruby broke the silence as the students neared the side of the docks and the boat just beyond it.

"Jaune. What you said back there... was it true?"

"Jaune," Pyrrha noted with worry as she reached his other side.

No response.

Pyrrha stopped, but the sudden appearance of a strange hazy-black memory of how a conversation he and her had once had about destiny ended - ironically - caused Jaune to turn around and face her just as she was pooling some Aura into her hand, "Pyrrha. Don't."

"Well you _can't_ just brush that kind of thing away and not expect us to worry!"

"Look," he began with some aggravation, glancing among the rest of the group who had almost quite literally been on the two redheads' heels, "The White Fang did what they did, okay? I couldn't stop them the first time around... but I _will_. So we're gonna leave it at _that_."

Ruby threw her hands up in exasperation, "That doesn't even make any-"

"Hmph! The White Fang, should've known I wasn't the only one in Beacon who saw them that way," Weiss cut in, crossing her arms and pointing her nose in the air with her eyes closed.

 _What an awful bunch of degenerates._

In the next split second, Jaune could practically feel his eyes dilate as he realized those last six words were words Weiss had never said... yet.

It had just happened with Pyrrha... he had felt what she was gonna do as if she'd already done it... except, he hadn't talked to her about destiny! Not yet, at least! And now, what was once a hazy black memory turned into a hazy red one... a very familiar shade of ruby red...

 _What's your problem?_

 _My problem? I simply don't care for the criminally insane._

 _The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths. They're a collection of misguided Faunus._

 _Misguided? They want to wipe Humanity off the face of the planet!_

 _So then they're **very** misguided. Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale! _

_Hmm... Blake's got a point. Besides, the police never caught that Torchwick_ _guy I ran into a few months ago... Maybe it was him._

Wait... what? Ruby knows about Roman!?

 _That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum. Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal._

He could see it, everything. Team RWBY on the docks, with none of his team around... but how? He could see Yang, Weiss, Blake... but not, wait. He was seeing this through Ruby? Everything felt as real as the seven faces he was looking at now, down to the anger growing in Blake's... uh oh.

"What an awful bunch of-"

" _Don't! Say it!_ "

Silence once again gripped the side docks as the students froze at Jaune's outburst, the knight holding his hand out placatingly at the surprised heiress. He just hoped that the divergence this would cause wouldn't be too big a deal.

"Just... don't, okay? I'm sure it's not like that."

"This coming from someone who practically went primal at the mention of their name," Blake said with what struck Jaune as a surprisingly curious tone of voice instead of the sarcasm she was known for that he'd expected, "That's strangely contradictory."

"Well you never get the whole story until you've heard it from _both_ sides, right?" Jaune shot back as quickly as he could before anyone could but in and screw things up worse, "Way I see it, I'm gonna get to the bottom of things. That's why I'm here in the first place. Any speculation made before the day that happens risks turning this whole thing in to a racist game of pointing fingers between humans and Faunus... which brings me back to my main point: Weiss, _not cool_."

"Hey! Get down from there this instant!"

"Isn't that the detective from the shop?" Ren noted in the direction of the shout that rang across the docks in the next second, catching Jaune's attention.

"Yeah... huh, guy must be pretty quick."

Unfortunately, this lapse of attention on the mildly peeved heiress provided just enough of an opening for her to remark off-handedly, "Hmph. That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum. _Those_ Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal."

"That's it!"

"Blake, no!" Jaune cried out in exasperation, whipping his hand around in case Blake had tried to make a move at Weiss, only to realize he had made two miscalculations.

First, Blake was in control enough of her emotions to keep from physically assaulting a teammate - in broad daylight, at least. Second, he'd failed to account for any lingering gravity Dust his Aura had absorbed from Weiss' second glyph at the Dust shop.

"Waaaahhh!"

 ** _SPLASH!_**

"Uh oh," Yang noted in concern as the shock of the instant Jaune mentally flung Blake off the dock had yet to wear off, "Blake overboard."

Jaune however didn't hesitate before diving into the murky dock waters himself, " _Blake!_ "

The six students immediately peered over the edge, Ruby staring wide-eyed into the water as if the cloudy brown surface could replay the previous scene perfectly in her mind.

"What. Did Jaune just do."

"Hehe, yeah... You know when we said you guys didn't miss anything when you were arguing over directions?" Nora began nervously with a small shrug, "Well, we lied."

"Looked like a couple of weirdoes, if you ask me."

Six heads silently turned to face a seventh blonde one looking over the pier beside them, the monkey-tailed fugitive giving them a small wave before the detectives could be heard approaching.

"Hey! Don't let 'im get away!"

"Later, losers!"

And just like that, the Faunus boy left, Yang following his escape before noting, "Well, Weiss, you wanted to see the competition, and there it goes..."

"Quick! We have to- Oof! Ruby, personal space!"

"I did that on purpose!" Ruby exclaimed petulantly before adamantly pointing into the water just as Jaune broke the surface with Blake in his arms gasping for air.

"Hold on, Blake, this'll only take a second."

The ravenette glared at him incredulously despite the mass of dark locks obstructing her vision, "You're kidding. * _cough cough_ * The docks are at least twenty feet up-"

 _Rubblerubblerubblerubblerubble_...

Her own amber eyes going wide at the mass of bubbles that began to surround them, Blake continued flatly, "Please tell me your Semblance doesn't involve natural gases, too."

"Du- wha-?" Jaune almost tried to counter but couldn't, merely shaking it off as they both began to ascend until his Aura was seen propelling the pair upwards above the water if only at a slower rate, three streams of Aura from both his feet and one hand while the other kept his rescuee held tightly against him.

"Huh. Guess that wasn't a shooting star I saw leading me and Renny to the ruins during initiation, after all," Nora noted as Jaune landed with Blake on the docks, to which an equally straight-faced Ren nodded.

"I'll be taking my five Lien back at your earliest convenience, Nora."

"Well aren't _you_ full of surprises, Arc; and here I thought your stunt on the Nevermore in initiation was just the sun in my eyes," Yang added, hands on hips with a clearly impressed expression on her face at the knight until a certain detail caused it to soften in realization at her partner, "And you're right on his heels in the shock department, too... Miss _Puss in Boots_..."

As every student slowly realized the two certain _somethings_ on Blake's head to which Yang was referring, and Blake turned to give Jaune the almightiest glares of amber fire, Jaune was only seen glancing at Blake's footwear red as a beet.

"Well would you look at that... she _does_ wear boots- OOF!"

 ** _SPLASH!_**

Well... that could've gone better.

The next few seconds orienting himself and shooting out of the water after spotting the black ribbon floating around, breaking the surface much faster now that he had all four limbs available with both hands to ensure his stability, Jaune landed on the docks a second time with Blake's bow in hand to see his team waiting for him while Ruby's team walked into the corner café in front of the docks a few yards away. The catgirl was wrapped in Yang's side hug, tongues of the girl's flaming Aura already beginning to lick the ravenette dry.

He looked at his partner lamely in apology, her hand already on his shoulder consolingly as he spoke, "It... was an accident."

"I know, Jaune. You did what you could. Let's get it dried and back in her hands."

Walking into what actually turned out to be a pub that happened to also be a café, team JNPR found Ruby and her team sitting at one of the booths, Blake at the inner corner with a mighty frown taking in the last of the heat to dry off with soggy book in hand. Yang took the bow Jaune offered, running her hand down its length and drying off the moisture in a motion as easy as squeezing out the rest of the toothpaste from a tube.

"Thanks, Jaune," Ruby began meekly, about to continue when a moustached bartender in a vest and green tie politely walked over to the group.

"Heya, folks. Just letting you know that I saw what happened, which is why I let y'all in without a fuss. But just so you know in case anyone wants to order: we don't serve Fau-"

"Well _hi_ there, bub," Yang cut in as she quickly stood and turned to face him with a smile and dangerous gleam in her eye, "Y'know, just so _you_ know... I blew up a nightclub a month or so ago because I didn't like what the bartender said to me. So by all means, _finish_ that sentence... go on. I _triple-cat_ dare you."

Blake merely grumbled miserably in her own corner, "I'm never gonna live this down around her, aren't I."

As Ruby shook her head consolingly at her teammate while she somberly wrapped herself again with her bow, Pyrrha decided to step in and don her mask for her part, "I sincerely apologize, Mister. We appreciate your hospitality and won't take much more of your time. If you could simply let my partner trouble you for a few minutes more as he dries up, we'll all be on our way."

His eyes brightening in realization, he actually dropped the glass he was cleaning before he got to respond, "Aw, gee darn it. A-All right, Miss Nikos. Five minutes..."

"Thank you."

She turned back to the group to see Jaune giving her a grateful smile, Ruby deciding to get her team back out in the open at Weiss' behest to "Observe the... er... _stowaway,_ " before he turned to his partner with some concern.

"You guys should join them. At least to make sure they don't break anything important out there. And to make sure Nora doesn't go overboard enforcing that last order, too."

Ren nodded in compliance with the request, the rest of team JNPR leaving the location with team RWBY while Jaune turned and entered the bathroom. Getting dry was one thing, but drying his clothes was another... Aura wasn't good at drying anything other than organic tissue unless you were Yang. Or Weiss with fire Dust. Glancing down at his hands, Jaune wondered what he could be capable of after absorbing the Dust from a Fire Glyph before wringing his jeans and sweater dry. After a few minutes had gone by and he'd all but gotten his hands cramped from trying to squeeze out all the water, Jaune donned his usual gear and made his way out.

"Well," he muttered to himself as he opened the bathroom door into the bar area of the pub, "At least I managed to avoid a melt..."

Jaune stopped short as he saw the seven students along with an eighth green-eyed redhead in a bow who looked awfully familiar outside, six of them wary spectators of yet another shouting match between the monochromatic teammates. He even winced at the twitch he saw in Blake's eye as Weiss seemed to point at some random trash can followed by some random lamppost.

"...down."

"Told ya. I'm not one to judge, but you can't deny that wherever a Faunus is around, trouble just ain't too far behind."

The wince simmering down into a scowl, Jaune turned to face the bartender with cerulean eyes promising justice, "Demean my friend like that again, and I'll Aura-hand you in the face."

Turning around without even giving the guy a chance to react, Jaune made his way out the door to hear Weiss' remark as she walked up to Blake, "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!"

Jaune's heart all but stopped as he froze in place at Blake's next words.

"Well maybe _we_ were just tired of being pushed around!"

Silence dropped down on the mostly empty midday city street, a surprised Weiss backing away slowly as Blake realized her mistake.

"Blake," he began sadly, reaching out to her as she nervously looked among her teammates and peers.

"I... I..."

And suddenly generating several clones, Blake pushed everyone back with Aural copies of herself to give herself time to dash away, Ruby recovering first with pain evident in her eyes, "Blake, wait! Come back!"

Jaune almost wanted to kill himself right then and there. He hadn't made things better... he'd just made them worse. And the only thing keeping him from gutting himself samurai-style in front of everyone was the fact that he'd already done a top up with Ruby that morning... which already had him mad enough.

The damage was already done.

But he'd be damned if he was just going to let this ride itself out like last time, even if RWBY had sorted it all out the first time around! He'd made things worse - altered the timeline, _again_ \- and if things went to the crapper in the Tournament again because of _his_ doing...

"Blaaaake!"

And with his final call, he turned back to his fiends and team, blue fire practically blazing in his eyes, "Guys, try and split up and search for her. Ruby, you and your team know her better than anyone - try and start with bookstores or any place you think she'd go to hole up for a while. Cuz trust me, I got a pretty good feeling she's perfectly capable of ditching for the whole weekend. My team will patrol the streets and see if we can sight her. Keep your scrolls in hand - with any luck, the fact that it's seven of us will make it faster. Got it?"

Ruby nodded conformingly, the rest of Jaune's team instantly on the same page, much to his relief, as the students began to split up. The redhead with the bow was gone, though... weird. But not a priority. So then he ran.

And ran. And ran. And ran.

He hadn't realized when he'd become able to run so much... he figured that Ozpin's routine was just really beginning to pay off as the occasional glow of Aura signaled its burning of the lactic acid in his system. Another few miles, guaranteed... yay. Still no sign of Blake.

Silently cursing himself and her amazing stealth abilities in the same breath, Jaune finally stopped near the dock where they'd first visited as dusk was beginning to set in. Thinking about how it was about time to consider calling it a day, a buzzing in his pocket notified him that he wasn't the only one thinking it.

"Hello?"

 _'Hey, Jaune,'_ it was Ruby _, 'We've practically combed through every nook and cranny in the city for the past few hours. No sign of her... wherever she's hiding, she really doesn't wanna be found. Me and the gang are back at the Bullhead port... last one leaves in five minutes. I kinda wanna keep looking, what do you think?'_

 _'I for one think Blake's a big girl, I'm sure she can handle herself!'_

 _'Weiss, come on,'_ sounded like Yang, _'She's one of our teammates.'_

 _'Is she? We all heard what she said!'_

 _'Weiss.'_

 _'Maybe she is, maybe she isn't. Either way, she's missing, and we need to find her!'_

 _'A member of the White Fang! Right underneath our noses!'_

As Weiss made the comment, Jaune realized just how bad it had been... he'd never even known Blake was once White Fang until today... is that why she was so hostile when he'd pegged her as a Faunus on her first day? She was... really good at what she did... just who was she, exactly?

 _'I just hope she's okay...'_

But it didn't matter. If Ruby still believed in her, then there could be no doubt in his mind that Blake was still redeemable.

After all... he'd seen her die by the katana of a White Fang leader.

"I'll... I'll keep looking," Jaune stated finally, a little sigh of resolution as the voices on the other end of the line went quiet, "I don't expect you guys to understand, but I feel like this was my fault. I... shouldn't have been here today."

 _'Jaune,'_ Pyrrha's voice came in almost immediately, _'Do not blame yourself for this. Yes, the reveal of Blake's heritage was an accident, but her subsequent actions were her own... there's, nothing you could've done about that.'_

Jaune turned away from his scroll to silently scoff at the setting sun, the broken moon already rising above the horizon. Maybe Ozpin was right... maybe some things, could never change...

Screw it. Screw Ozpin, and screw the world if he'd ever let himself think that way! Monty had put their eyes in the front on their heads so they could keep moving forward!

"I refuse to believe that," he replied resolutely, controlling his rising heart rate, "I'm going to stay as long as I have to; maybe we can rotate lookouts starting tomorrow if she doesn't turn up. No cause is lost as long as you're willing to fight for it for the right reasons... and I believe she can work this out. I _believe_ in Blake."

A short pause before Ruby's voice came through quietly, _'Alright, Jaune... We'll pick up where we left off, just take care of yourself while we're all separated tonight. We can already hear the Bullhead coming arou-'_

"Wha-?"

Jaune whipped around as his scroll was suddenly snatched out of his hand and thrown to the water, seeing nothing behind him before a slender hand was held over his mouth.

"Not a word."

Who... who was that? Jaune felt he knew, but in the second he nodded his head, he also reached out with his Aura. The manifestation of your soul, right? Your very being... emotions and all. So focus, Jaune... focus. Feed into the emotion behind you... feel the tension, the fear... the confusion. Just like with Ruby... Just like with Pyrrha.

Just reach... reach...

And in the blink of an eye, a violet haze surrounded his vision, overlapping a duality he couldn't quite place until he saw the cranes and ships around the docks. That... wasn't too far from where they were currently standing. And then he saw them... _them_.

The White Fang. Trying to keep control over his emotions to stay in the trance-like state even as the hand slowly began to drop from his mouth, Jaune could see. A ribbon being torn off the point of view he was occupying and floating along the breeze as the Faunus terrorists seemed to recognize their brother. Or sister.

Blake. And... Roman!? In the last millisecond of sight, he saw Blake engaging him... the fear in her form and movement as his amazing technique proved too much for her while a guy - hey, he knew that guy with the monkey tail and staff! - tagged in to help her. He wondered when the Faunus boy had ever even met Ruby's team as the memory seemed to fade...

Except it wasn't fading. Only the guy - Sun, from what he was recalling - was fading. Being replaced with another blonde form... wait. Him!? On the docks fighting Roman _again!?_ Oh for the love of...

"We need to talk."

And there it went, the violet trance shattering at the amber-eyed gaze drawing in his own.

"You know, I think your _team_ would've appreciated it way more if you'd decided to make that demand at _Beacon_ , where they'd have known that you'd at least be _safe_ ," Jaune shot back, reeling in his anger as best he could mostly since he'd just seen Roman again in his... future or something, "You have _any_ idea how worked up they are about you right now?"

"I'm _sure_ they are," she retorted just as fiercely, "But what happens when they weigh their 'righteous morals' against their acquaintance with a terrorist they barely know, hm? What happens _then?_ I have no idea who to trust right now, and you're the first person I met in this new life of mine, so I'm working with what I've got. And on top of that all..."

If it were even possible, her amber eyes seem to glare at him even harder as she gripped his arm with surprisingly strong strength.

"You owe me. _Big time_. You revealed my secret... so now you're going to tell me yours. When we're done," her verbal advance seemed to find a slight reprieve for the knight's favor in the form of a pause, her eyes breaking contact with his for just a moment before returning, "When we're done... _then_ we'll let you decide if I'm a cause still worth fighting for."

Ah, crapberries. So she heard that.

"Alright," Jaune relented, Blake's expression finally relaxing back to her resting face... which for the record wasn't much better than an anyone else's FTW face. And not the For The Win ones.

Glancing around at the early evening city, many of the nighttime lamps powering up to light the streets, he turned back to face her as the uncomfortable vision still caused him to wince periodically, "Know any good coffee spots around where we can lay low? I got a feeling it's gonna be a long night."

* * *

 **A/N:** _For the record, the detectives are actually voiced by Burnie and Joel, so... this is me giving the cop VAs the limelight they deserve! Yay!_

 _Anyways... wait, what is this? A super short A/N!? haha **nope** \- prepare thyselves, for **LDR's** second omake is about to begin!_

* * *

 _ **Omake #2:** ThePhantomScribe_

* * *

"Weiss... did you just revenge-break Jaune?"

"That's not even a thing!" Weiss protested, panic clearly rising in her voice as she debated whether or not to step forward and touch the likely dead body.

Yang simply glared at the terrible turn of events with a shake of her head, "I think you just _made_ it a thing."

But then, in the most unlikely turn of events... Jaune walked into the Bullhead area. Needless to say, he was just as surprised as everyone else.

"W-Wait... this isn't right! I was supposed to go all the way back to the reset point!" he realized aloud in panic, eyes widening at his motionless form on the floor and glancing back at the students, "Why didn't it work the way it's supposed to!?"

" _Because I'm not **dead** , you moron!_"

Eight faces turned back to the motionless figure in shock, Nora leaping onto Ren's arms while making an _X_ with her fingers at the presumably undead body as Jaune Prime slowly rolled onto his back with his gaze straight up, "I just... can't feel anything underneath my legs. Stupid universe, can't even figure out when I'm properly killed...-"

And suddenly cutting himself off as Jaune Prime made eye contact with Jaune, both knights' gazes remained locked as each froze in place stuck in a loop.

"Freaky."

" _Freaky_."

"Freaky."  
" _Freaky_."

"Freaky."  
" _Freaky_."  
"Freaky."  
" _Freaky_."

"Jaune, don't look at yourselves!" Ruby cried out, suddenly realizing what was going on as the two knights began blinking in and out of existence and repeating the same word between each other like compounded feedback from a sound system, "You're entering a _temporal paradox!_ "

Dashing forward, the crimsonette frantically leapt to tackle the standing knight only to meet air and crash on the ground. Going teary-eyed as she realized that both Jaunes had simply vanished, Yang quickly went to get on her knees as well and embrace her sister as the crimsonette sobbed quietly, "It's okay, Rubes... it's okay. At least he went painlessly."

It wasn't.

The next feeling that rippled through Jaune's body was the sensation of being torn apart and folded back together millions of times in the same instant of time before he suddenly found himself standing in...

Ozpin's stupidly confusing clockwork office.

"If this is heaven, I'm taking the elevator out of here," Jaune finally remarked before turning to the elevator-

"Doesn't work, dude. We tried."

Freezing in place, Jaune slowly turned and went pale as he saw standing in the middle of the room... him. So many of him!

"Aiiiiiiieeee!"

"Giiiiiiiii!"

"Wahhhhhhhh!"

"NYAAAAAA!"

"Noooooooo!"

"...Whoa."

Every Jaune standing in a circle as they simultaneously finished their nearly identical reactions - minus the last one dressed in a distinctive Black Hood - a seemingly more professional Jaune in glasses took a step forward to the newest Jaune.

"Hello. I suppose introducing ourselves at this point would be redundant, and saying 'Nice to meet you' would be oddly self-serving... but in light of the obvious problem the present issue creates, we've worked out a system to identify orselves," he paused motioning at himself while Jaune noticed the strangely familiar blazer he'd seen worn only by Beacon staff, "I... am Professor!Jaune, Student Counselor and teacher aide at Beacon Academy."

"Ow," Jaune replied, rubbing his ear in annoyance, "Did you have to shout when you said _'Professor'_?"

"It's how it's written. And unfortunately, Glynda kinda turned me into a grammar Nazi."

"That's unfortunate..."

"Indeed," he replied coolly before motioning to the third Jaune, "This is Gamer!Jaune... sorry... though he himself isn't a gamer, it appears that where he comes from Blake has become a Gamer and she's been under his tutelage until recently."

"Sup."

"Sup," Jaune replied identically before cocking his head at the runes in Crocea Mors, "That looks different."

"Says the guy with golden star stickers on his version of Crocea Mors. Nice to meet you."

Cutting in, Professor!Jaune pointed at the next one in the group, "Right. This here is Auburn!Jaune. Bear with him, he's just gone though... a lot."

Jaune glanced at the gash in Auburn!Jaune's arm as he seemed to be talking to... no one in particular.

"Um, you okay there, bud? What happened to your arm?"

"Stabbed by my own sword," a pause as he seemed to nod understandingly at something no one else could hear, "Stabbed a monkey Grimm with it," a small chuckle as if he were listening to some random joke, "Hehe, gonna kill the Prime Evil with the Aurora that comes out of it when I bleed..."

"Um, you mean Aura?"

"Aurora."

"No, Aura."

" _Aurora_ ," Auburn!Jaune repeated, leaning his head back and then turning to his right where there was no one standing, "I know, right!? I keep telling them!"

Professor!Jaune merely put his hand on Jaune's shoulder, shaking his head benevolently as he spoke, "Just... we tried. Apparently her name is Charlotte or something."

"AND SHE'S A REAL PERSON!"

"...Right. That's right, we never said you were wrong," Professor!Jaune noted, calming Auburn!Jaune much to Jaune's surprise.

"Wow... that counseling stuff must've really gone a long way."

"Not really. I've been hit on by half the Beacon female populace, _literally_ hit on by the other half, and the most notorious criminal mastermind in all of Remnant recently shoved her tongue down my throat. Trust me, never have I been closer to dying with every step I take."

"Well aren't we dead? Isn't that why we're here?"

"I dunno... probably."

"Well that wouldn't be good!" Jaune complained hotly, "I have to go back, I have people to take care of!"

"By people, do you mean Blake?" Gamer!Jaune noted hopefully, deflating a bit as he received a blank stare from Jaune.

"Why would... why? She tried to kill me the first time we met."

"Hehe, classic, same thing happened to me in initiation when she became my partner," Auburn!Jaune added with a creepy grin, nodding excitedly to... Charlotte? "Instead, we destroyed a giant Super Grimm that was half-lion, half-snake, half-goat, and half-Death Star!"

" _Okay_ ," Jaune declared with a resolute point at the copy of himself, "Your opinions are _officially_ no longer valid."

" _Hey_ , buddy," the version of himself wearing the Black Hood cut in sharply, "You're not the only one who has to get back to his world, with complex plots, questionable morality, and classy shounen protagonsist tags... we _all_ have to get back."

"Shattered!Jaune is right-"

"Stop yelling!"

"Alright! He's right... we have to find a way out of here. And we'll have to use our strangely unique but conveniently compatible powers of... power, to do it! Are you in or not!?"

At that, a sixth Jaune entered the circle... at least, what Jaune could only assume was another Jaune. Whatever _this_ dude was, he was decked out in all manner of Dark Armor and Light Armor and blades and weapons and grenade belts and glowy tentacles and possibly about every scent of Axe Body Spray known to mankind... in other words, not an inch of skin could be seen. Just the smell... and ugh, it made the whole place smell like a middle school boy's bathroom.

Jaune merely pointed slowly at the hefty super-knight before Professor!Jaune explained, "That's TGWP!Jaune. He's _actually_ a Gamer I think, but don't expect much from him. He hasn't spoken to anyone since May of 2015..."

"Right. I take it he's in for Plan Get Our _Jauney_ Butts Back To Our Homeworlds."

Gamer!Jaune winced, "Eesh... you been hanging around Yang much lately?"

But though it was barely noticeable, the vaguely samurai-style helmet on TGWP!Jaune gave a single nod at Jaune's statement before Professor!Jaune noted, "Also, be weary... it has a tendency of working out this way: it may seem like Blake isn't in the picture yet... but trust us, she _will_ be."

"They call us Knightshade," Gamer!Jaune added with a proud gleam in his eye, to which Jaune simply deadpanned.

"That's a stupid name."

"Could be worse," Shattered!Jaune replied as he stepped into the circle as well, "You could be juggling a questionably sane 'frienemy with benefits' relationship with Neo instead."

Jaune could only cock a brow at how every other Jaune present, even the TGWP one, all groaned aloud in unison.

Who was Neo?

"Anyway," Shattered!Jaune concluded as he held his hand out to the center of the circle and the remaining Jaunes followed suit, "Here we are. Standing in a circle. Like a bunch of idiots... let's _do_ this."

 _ ***Cue the cool rock/dubstep theme music***_

* * *

 **A/N #2:** _It's like... an Origin story of a group of Avengers, RWBY-style. If you guys like the idea, well I got good news and bad news._

 _Bad news, I **won't** be writing it._

Good news, there's no more bad news to add to that. But it was a fun idea to explore; I'm barely getting back into things so it'll likely just stay as an omake.

 _And yes, I have officially x-nayed **Sun** from **LDR**. Wonder what butterfly effect **that'll** have..._

 _EDIT: Yes, I know **TGWP** continued in Space Battles. I just haven't gotten around to reading it since it's apparently longer than the Lord of The Rings (as noted by a reviewer) and I haven't even finished what's on FFNet yet... *le sad face*_

 _EDIT #2: I tried getting into **TGWP** again... I just, I just can't. I don't know what's wrong with me._

 _As many will notice, there is some wait time between chapters because there are some elements in Volume 3 that I feel will be great with **LDR**... thus keeping it familiar and strangely canon as I jack it up while we go along. You like what you read? Then by all means, feel free to **Fave, Follow, and Review** to show your continued support! Longer A/N over, so take care..._

 ** _And_** ** _Happy Reading!_**

* * *

 _ **Live. Die. Repeat.**_

 _TPS (c) 2015, 2018_


	10. The Dark Knight Rises

_**The Dark Knight Rises**_

* * *

"Four hours."

" _No_..."

" _Yes_. I timed it. Didn't even stop once."

Jaune sat back in muted stupefaction, the twilight hour nearly passing as the two students sat at a table on the roof of a Valean café. It wasn't too far inland, that with the smell of the mid-city docks still coming in every now and again with the breeze and all, but the rooftop balcony seating provided privacy. And the menu was pretty cheap. But with food far from his mind, Jaune simply ran his hand through his hair in disbelief.

"I... didn't even realize..."

Blake nodded understandingly from across the neat little wrought-iron coffee table between them, though it was in fact with a measure of disbelief as well, "I estimate that you were going at over fifteen miles per hour for over ninety of those minutes. Your resting speed would've been considered a brisk jog for most people... not an easy feat..."

Okay... so maybe Ozpin's training was _seriously_ legit, after all.

"Except you circled the same four blocks _eighty times_ ," she then added flatly, Jaune's shoulders drooping as the pride from his accomplishment suddenly vanished.

Well, so much for that.

"Your orders, please?" a voice beckoned from the side, a tall, lanky waiter in standard garb for the profession appearing beside them with notebook in hand expectantly.

"I'm good with just a coffee," Jaune noted cordially, handing the waiter the menu, "Black. Very strong. Enough to stand a fork in it, if possible."

As the moment turned awkward while the waiter stared at Jaune, each of them with a hand on either end of the menu, Jaune let out a single nervous chuckle before breaking the silence, "Eheh... that was a joke. The strongest you have would be nice."

All business, the waiter simply gave the blonde a nod as if bad jokes were a usual occurrence in that area, unfazed as he turned to Blake and accepted her menu as well.

"Tea," she replied simply, the man giving a brief _'Thank You'_ to the pair of students before he took his leave and Blake glanced at Jaune with a raised brow, "I honestly never took you for a caffeine... enthusiast."

"I'm... not?" Jaune noted, thinking about it for a moment. Or was he? He wasn't quite sure, but the request he'd made still did seem to come awfully naturally of him, "Like I said, I'm pretty sure it's gonna be a long night."

A flat stare from the ravenette across him.

"C'mon, really? Save it for Yang," he added, waving off her expression as he gazed over the ledge beside their table that protected them from a forty-foot drop with naught but a decorative two-foot high iron parapet, "Don't blame me for wanting to be completely alert after the _first_ time you started a conversation with me."

"That's ancient history, Jaune," she noted with what he could only guess was a very, _very_ dry form of humor.

Logically, this influenced his deadpan as he continued, " _Right_. You didn't even have to threaten my life with _stationery_ this time... or do you have a stapler hidden under your bow?"

"No," she stated softly, her voice almost airy as her bow seemed to twitch over her head, "Only what you've apparently already figured out..."

"Huh. Should've figured that," Jaune noted to himself, deciding it was likely wise to add something to his statement as her eyes furtively glanced back at him at the seemingly contradictory words, "I mean... you know, what type they were. Ears, horns-"

" _Ears_ ," she corrected suddenly with a sharper tone, Jaune a bit surprised now as she crossed her arms in front of the table between them, "And I didn't bring you here to talk about _me_. You've already learned more than you need to know."

Maybe it was the time he'd spent with Ruby and her team the first time around, or maybe it was the approximate year of life he'd spent around women in general that he _wasn't_ related to, but what Jaune did next at Blake probably would've made his original self go paper white in fear: _scoff_.

"Seriously?" he questioned incredulously, foregoing the dangerous glare in her eye to repeat himself, " _Seriously?_ Blake... Nora can fit seven pancakes in her mouth at _once_ , Ren has a Dewey Decimal system set up in our room for his _cookbooks_ , and Pyrrha _snores_ in her _sleep_... the fact you're a Faunus shouldn't be any more strange or embarrassing than any of those things by far! Knowing you're a Faunus isn't, and _shouldn't be_ , a bad thing... especially not a reason to go hiding who you _are_ , either!"

Narrowing her eyes at the blonde in incredulous curiosity instead of the offence he might've expected, Blake simply waved her hand in the air as if tracing an invisible globe, "This fantasy world you live in, Jaune... does it have rides? Because unless you've missed the past eighty years of history, _'civilized'_ society isn't exactly the kindest place for Faunus anymore..."

Realizing that Blake actually responded to this kind of conversational tone - sadly enough - Jaune decided to go along with it like the games of 'Chicken' he remembered once playing with his sisters... so placing both hands on the table at either side of him, Jaune leaned forward a bit in his seat, ensuring to keep his gaze locked with hers.

"Then _enlighten_ me."

A brief pause set in, Blake clearly getting the challenge in his tone as he sat back in his seat with crossed arms. Jaune knew for the life of himself that this was the most important part of the game... break the gaze, or break the resolve, and you were the Chicken. And that usually ended up with doing someone else's dishes for the week.

But _not_ today!

Catching the sight of Blake, her posture rigid and eyes still narrowed in distrust, Jaune finally caught the first sign of a nervous tick - a split-second whetting of her lips like someone about to speak despite a dry mouth.

"I... find it hard to believe you would actually want to know more about me."

"You best believe it, as long as it isn't all small talk and weird looks," Jaune nodded placidly, knowing by her expression that he'd actually gained some advantage in the conversation even though she gave him a stern glare, "Yeah, like _that_. And I won't be the last one either, considering you have an entire team back in Beacon who'd love nothing more to get to know you, too. Even Weiss... once she gets over herself, which I promise won't take too long."

Dismissing the last part of it with a small roll of her eyes, Blake's gaze slowly dropped to the table as she seemed to mentally shake off whatever argument she had left against her next words, "Recent events aside... clearly, you now know I was once a part of the White Fang..."

She glanced up at him, somewhat surprised to simply see him silently nodding in confirmation of her statement as if he'd always known - as far as she knew, maybe he had, after realizing she was a Faunus in hiding - and with none of the expressions of disgust or antipathy that she would've expected. It was strangely reassuring as she continued, actually...

"I was a member for most of my life, actually. You could almost say I was born into it... Back then, things were different. In the ashes of war, the White Fang was meant to be a symbol of peace and unity between Humans and the Faunus."

"The... Great War, right?" Jaune interjected in curiosity, Blake giving him a small nod.

"That's right. It was the last time inequality was defined by socio-political standing instead of the characteristics that defined us," Blake replied somberly, "It was the last time Humans and Faunus fought shoulder to shoulder to defeat a common enemy aside from the Grimm."

Jaune frowned in thought, a stray question running through his mind that kept gnawing at him until finally making its way out, "Wasn't there... anyone... during the War who tried to keep it that way... who did what they could to promote equality among us after the war ended?"

"A few Generals," Blake noted helpfully, "Tacticians who saw the value in playing to the strengths of both Humans _and_ Faunus..."

"And what about near the end of the war? Like, anyone who had a... huge win under their belt who might've held sway with the new Councils?"

Blake raised a brow in curiosity, "You mean like the Battle of Verdun?"

"Yeah... Verdun," he tested aloud, feeling something deep within confirming his hope that they were talking about the same thing, "Seems like a fitting name."

"Perhaps. But I'm afraid that one doesn't count," Blake admitted, Jaune's brows furrowing in question which prompted her to continue, "It was a decisive battle, but the man behind its execution disappeared... some people today still regard it as a fable, a means to personify the will of good versus evil by pitting the one against the many."

Jaune cocked his head to the side as the waiter came and promptly served them their drinks, taking his mug quickly and focusing back on Blake as he was interested in the topic for more than one reason now, "Oh yeah? And what do you think?"

"A bedtime story at best... Human's first act of _racism_ in historical records at worst," she retorted unexpectedly, Jaune's face softening in confusion as she clasped her hands around her teacup and continued, "Though the closest records at the time imply that the enemy base of Verdun was taken single-handedly, it is said that the general had the aid of seven Faunus warriors, some of the precursors to Huntresses, to create a distraction before he began his raid."

"Huntresses?"

"Oh yes," Blake continued with evident pride both for her race and her gender, "And while the General's name was never known for sure, Menagerian records state that they were known colloquially as Luna and the Seven Stars. Some speculate that they learned their arts in the same temples; others wonder if they were even related. But what's known for sure is that in the most 'accredited' records available, edited by _human_ historians, the contributions of the Seven Stars were omitted entirely - whether for the sake of embellishment or outright prejudice, I'll let you decide. The only mention of them in the Menagerian records after the war is that after the general disappeared, they either went back to repair the damages in the Faunus tribes of Menagerie or joined in the newly-incepted Huntsman Academies across the globe."

Jaune slumped a bit in his seat, sighing dejectedly at the world he might've left behind - if Ozpin was _right_ , of course, "Man... and you'd think that they'd have learned their lesson. And then there's the Grimm... what more common an enemy can you have than _that?_ "

"People rarely rise higher than their expectations. Sure, there were promises of peace, but after the war, all anyone wanted was for things to go back to the way they _were_... building families, contributing to society, dying in peace. The Grimm have always been around. The fight for survival may have distracted most from creating further unrest within the kingdoms, but the increments in treaties and advances in technologies never addressed the core fallacies in society after the war."

"So what happened after the war, then?"

With a now persistent level of intrigue at the knight, whose curiosity almost seemed to her like someone learning these things for the first time, she continued anyway, feeling good telling a story for someone who truly seemed so eager to hear it from her, "Well... of course, despite being promised equality, the Faunus were subjected to discrimination and hate. Humanity still thought of us as lesser beings. And so, the White Fang rose up as the voice of our people... And I was there. I was at the front of every rally. I took part in _every_ boycott. I actually thought we were making a _difference_..."

Jaune watched her now, no longer having to provide subtle gestures for her to continue or auxiliary questions for her to elaborate as she finally let that emotional dam around her fall. And as he expected, it wasn't exactly pretty... watching how her fists instinctively balled on the table to the point of turning her knuckles white, he wondered how she would've vented all this before coming back to Beacon. Maybe she'd told this to her team or something before returning the first time around...

"But I was just a youthful optimist. Then, five years ago, our leader stepped down, and a new one took his place. A 'new' leader, with a 'new' way of thinking," she continued, the hints of a scowl warping her upper lip, "Suddenly, our peaceful protests were being replaced with organized attacks. We were setting fire to shops that refused to serve us, hijacking cargo from companies that used Faunus labor. And the worst part was, it was working. We were being treated like equals. But not out of respect... out of _fear_."

The tense moment remained as silence followed her words, Jaune fidgeting with his mug as he came to terms with the information until she sighed, regained her composure, and took a sip of tea.

"So, I left. I decided I no longer wanted to use my skills to aid in their violence, and instead, I would dedicate my life to becoming a Huntress. So here I am: a criminal hiding in plain view, all with the help of a little... black... bow."

Watching the bow above her head twitch indicatively - and admittedly, adorably - at its mention, Jaune recalled the brief glimpse of her Faunus characteristics he'd received that day before she'd quite forcefully shoved him off the docks, "Ah... a _cat_ Faunus, then."

With only a small nod, Blake glanced towards the last remnant of dusk in the sky as a small breeze picked up through the balcony, "Mhm..."

"Well at least that wasn't a... _scandalous_ hum this time. As if you'd just committed a crime or something."

Her gaze returning to grant the smug blonde a light glare, Blake then seemed a little unsure of what to say next, taking another sip of tea now that she'd burned out her inner turmoil in conversation to stall a bit as Jaune did the same with his.

As soon as the brew went past Jaune's lips, he couldn't help letting out a little sigh in pleasure. Maybe it was because anything caffeinated outside the teacher's lounge _wasn't_ caffeinated... because obviously... kids like Ruby and Nora wielding lethal weapons... or he was seriously starting to develop a taste for coffee. Good stuff.

Clearing her throat, Blake let out a hint of a nervous smile as she ended the easy-going pause between them, "So... Ren really has a Dewey Decimal system set up in your dorm?"

"Hehe, yeah," Jaune chuckled in reply, "I never understood how it worked no matter how long I looked at it... and trust me, I tried."

"Don't beat yourself up about it too badly," she retorted amiably, Jaune glad about how letting her get things off her chest had done _wonders_ for her conversation skills, "You've only been living together for a month..."

Another laugh from the blonde, except a little more cautious this time, "Eheh... right..."

The ravenette shook her head at the strange blonde before noting, " _I_ for one, can appreciate the organization necessary to ensure such valuable possessions remain in order... but I would never be able to make that system work in our room..."

"No?"

The first chuckle from the ravenette all night... and maybe the first he'd _ever_ seen from her up close, "Oh no, Ruby and Yang would never uphold it."

"Oh yeah?" Jaune noted, sensing a possible opportunity now that Blake had brought up her team on her own terms, "You didn't mention Weiss... do I sense a possible common ground between the two of you?"

That window of opportunity immediately slamming shut on his fingers, Jaune watched Blake's defenses come back up as her shoulders tensed and she put her cup down. Yep, too soon... but he barely had time to lament it as she was already moving on to the next order of business.

"Common ground implies compromise," she stated coldly, lacking sharpness but lacking emotion too, "And prejudice rarely shows much reason."

Jaune was wise enough to keep from adding something along the lines of 'That sword cuts both ways' before he was once again the target of her deliberations.

"So onto you, Jaune," a small groan from the knight, "Mhm, don't think I'd forgotten."

"Yeah yeah," he grumbled as she now sat back in her seat expectantly with arms crossed, the knight realizing that he'd forgotten to partition some of her story time towards making up a decent fake one of his own.

"Whenever you're ready," she added, a hint of dry humor still present at least in the single brow she raised in vague amusement at his consternation, "I'll quietly listen to your woeful tale."

 _Heh_... if only she knew...

"Where... do I begin?"

Blake glanced up in thought, her lips pursing a bit to the side as her head lightly tilted one way and then to the other as if deciding between two invisible options above her head, "Hmm... I went quite a ways back with my own story, didn't I. I suppose you could start with where you're from, your decision to come here, and if you can manage it..."

Her gaze dropped to meet his, Jaune immediately understanding by inference.

"The Fang..."

"Mhm..."

Jaune sighed, scratching the back of his head before noting, "You hum a lot. Never could figure out why..."

"Mhm. Because usually, most of what people say really isn't worth what I'd say in return."

Pausing a bit in thought, Jaune couldn't help a slight nod at Blake's subtle smirk, "That actually explains a lot about you."

"... _mhm_."

"Right. Where... I'm from," Jaune drawled aloud, rummaging through whatever pieces of memory he could find or salvage. It was hard, considering that focusing on them made them blurrier and that they were only clear in his sleep, but his newer habit of waking up every now and then and sketching what he could remember had made it easier - all he had to do was remember what he'd drawn, "I remember growing up..."

Forests. Flashes of sunlight through canopies... feet plodding through the undergrowth.

"Outside of the kingdoms," he continued, glancing at Blake to see her taking a sip from her drink as she continued listening attentively, "Matter of fact, I'm pretty sure there weren't any... n-nearby, that is."

Laughter. Feminine. Flashes of gold. Auburn, too. Hair?

"...I had seven sisters. Don't remember too much about my parents other than the fact they were fighters. Good ones. But at some point, that all changed... everything was lost, and the worst part is that I barely even remember how it happened."

"But it had to do with the White Fang."

Jaune paused, realizing that he and she were thinking of what turned out to be two different things. But noting the bind he'd likely face if he tried presenting the series of events in that manner, he simply nodded.

"It was a surprise attack. They were outgunned, outnumbered... I had no idea how I didn't get added to the death count that day - they were far better fighters than I was. I guess I have my Semblance to thank for that, then... But if I ever have a chance to fix things, to figure out why they did it and who was _really_ behind such pointless killing, I _know_ I'll have to be stronger. Much stronger."

Blake sighed, taking a final sip of her tea before stating softly, "So that's why you came to Beacon? To train so you can face them again? I... probably wouldn't be able to say I had the same resolve after I left. I'm sorry about your family though, I wish I had something to offer that could help... where did the attack happen?"

"Ah, I'd barely be able to say," Jaune stated somberly, dismissing her words with a small wave, "Besides, it was way before your time..."

A curious glare from the ravenette.

"...I mean, I wouldn't be able to recall. I-It's complicated."

Blake hummed contemplatively, her fingers tapping rhythmically on the empty cup in her hands before she noted, "And that Semblance of yours... I take it that it's gotten you out of trouble in plenty of situations?"

"More than you know..."

"No doubt. What is it, if you don't mind me asking?"

Jaune sighed, internally lamenting that Blake was now the third person to ask him something like that directly and would have to be the third person from whom he'd have to withhold the full truth. But keeping in mind her history in such an organization and probable training in how to find a lying mole and stuff like that, Jaune was suddenly concerned that direct deception wouldn't be an option with her... he'd have to hit it from a different angle.

Vague honesty it'd be again, then...

"I honestly don't know," Jaune began with a genuine sigh of dejection, "No one that might've known was ever able to explain it to me before I ended up here... but it lets me figure out how people fight and use their weapons to give me an edge, along with giving me an okay idea about places I've never been to before. I guess you can say it's a cheap power, and somehow my shield keeps track of how many times I use it."

That seemed detailed enough, at least to get her to infer the rest.

"That sounds," Blake began slowly in thought, brows furrowing a bit before looking up at Jaune in tempered realization, "quite a bit like _Tracing_."

"Yeah," Jaune concurred, trying not to give away his pleased expression of having his plan work, "That's... what they tell me these days."

"Certainly a viable possibility, but it still leaves a few open questions," Blake then added, Jaune's inner excitement crashing as she then placed her forearm flat on the table, "I suppose a good idea would be to put it to the test. Hold my hand."

"Uhh, but uhm... I know they're far away, but there are others up here..."

Glancing down at her hand and back up at the knight in confusion, Blake fought back a surge of warmth to her cheeks as she noted gruffly, "It's a _test_ , not a display of affection."

Ignoring her peeved muttering, Jaune complied and did so, his right hand held in her left as he felt her velvety soft skin squeeze around his.

"There's no point in trying to analyze my weapon since you've already seen it in action on Grimm, so you're going to Trace _me,_ " Blake informed, her gaze trained on the knight as she continued, "So tell me, what's my preferred handling of Gambol?"

Jaune sighed, the sensation of his hand in hers so uncomfortable yet comfortable at the same time that it was somewhat difficult to think... then again, it was just holding hands, in a public place, where people could see...

Softly shaking himself out of it, he simply decided to close his eyes to at least seem like he was concentrating, digging through his mind for memories about the tournament for her specific style of hand to hand combat.

"You're a dual-wielder, and a very good one at that," he finally noted, his eyes closed as he recalled team RWBY's bout against some team from Atlas, "You lead with your right foot even though you're a right-handed fighter, but I figure that's because your blade is lighter than your sheath and you put preference to speed..."

Unable to see her eyes widen a bit in surprise since to her, he'd never seen her face off against students in class to see her adopt that style, Jaune waited for Blake's next question.

"Not bad, Tracer... then here's another one - what's my weakness as a fighter?"

Jaune's brows furrowed in thought, memories of the tournament flitting through his mind for her falls in combat before drawing a line of common ground between them, "It's interesting... you, really don't seem to be able to take a hit..."

A short pause before he continued, "I mean, not that you can't take one if you absolutely _have_ to... but now that I think of it, your whole style seems to be built around avoiding them..."

"Not exactly a quality explanation, Jaune - it's not like anyone can _afford_ to let a creature of Grimm get a free shot on them just to make it 'fair'."

"I wasn't finished," Jaune corrected, his eyes still closed as he went through the memories again, "You dodge better than anyone else because you're _afraid_... afraid of getting hit and not being able to get back up. So you dodge, run, whatever it takes..."

He finally opened his eyes to see the stunned amber-eyed ones of his companion staring into them, Jaune continuing after placing his other hand on top of hers assuringly, "But your weakness has got nothing on your _strengths_ , Blake... with that kind of agility and rate of damage, you fit the bill as best support fighter anyone can ask for - your style is literally of the most use as part of a _team_ , and with the right partners, I don't think there's a man or machine on Remnant that can stand up to you!"

A glint of recognition flitted through Blake's eyes; had Jaune just Traced back to her final mission as a White Fang operative?

"Those are... heavy words, Jaune," Blake replied, controlling her emotions that were threatening to undermine the level tones in her voice, "Frankly, words I don't believe I deserve... you may have your Sembalnce, but if you'd _seen_ the things I did before-"

"But I _have_ , Blake! I have," Jaune replied resolutely, the large smile on his lips taking the ravenette back completely in surprise, "I've seen your _potential_ , and what you can be! You go back to the team that cares about you, and I can see the four of you will keep moving forward, breaking down walls, and making the world a better place like you wanted! Isn't that the reason why you said you dedicated your life for this?"

Blanke blinked at the completely convinced young man in front of her, his words surely just an attempt to convince her of a possibility that no one could guarantee... but that look in his eyes... oh how she wanted to be able to have that kind of conviction as well...

"Juane... you can't, say that for sure..."

"Can't I? So it's a life in Beacon as opposed to _what_ , going back to the very people who'd almost corrupted you into their way of thinking!? C'mon, Blake, you're better... than..."

His voice trailing off as he saw her gaze slowly falling to the table in guilt, Jaune continued softly, "Wait. You were seriously considering...?"

"You... said it yourself, Jaune. No cause is lost as long as you're willing to fight for it for the right reasons... maybe I can go back and-"

" _Don't_ ," Jaune finished sharply in barely more than a whisper, "Don't you _dare_ finish that thought. Otherwise you're just selling yourself short to the wrong crowd... and I bet you know just as well as I do that if you _truly_ believed what you were saying, then you'd have just left me at the docks and left Vale!"

Blake screwed her eyes shut, her bow dropping down on her head before she replied with a shaky voice, "Then help me believe, Jaune... _make_ me believe, like you do..."

The knight sighed as he realized that he truly had no experience in this life with handling women, glancing to the side in his reflectively strange way of giving her some privacy to vent those emotions before slowly lifting his second hand from above her hand to her shoulder. Seeing that she made no immediate reaction, he decided to rub her shoulder a bit while he wondered how unlikely it was that her team would've gotten her to vent this much with just one conversation. It'd have taken at least _two_ for sure, facilitated by none other than Yang, no doubt...

"Alright then," he finally began, an idea sprouting in his mind that suddenly seemed crazy enough to work, "I'll show you..."

Putting his hand down from her shoulder, Jaune gave her a warm smile as she looked up at him with with a curious glance despite her reddened eyes.

"That's right. During the week, I heard Weiss complaining about how the field trip had forced her to use up way more Dust than she had available from her weekly supply and how her request to her dad's company for an advance shipment had a butterfly effect, making their huge Dust shipment that was scheduled to come in to Vale on Sunday come in tonight instead..."

"Butterfly effect?" Blake echoed in question, to which Jaune chuckled softly.

"Heh yeah, it means how little things that get moved out of place can slowly become a big thing over time through a chain of events - like how the air moved by a butterfly flapping its wings here in Vale can indirectly cause the beginning of a hurricane across the world in Mistral!"

His smile fading as he realized he was still the only one smiling, Jaune continued, "Well anyway, instead of testing your theory on the White Fang by returning, let's go and find out if the robberies are connected by seeing if they jump on the payload while it's most vulnerable. If they're not there, then I'll personally let you do as you please - your argument for the Fang's redemption in the light of their innocence would be as valid as my argument for yours. But if they show..."

Blake's nod signaling her agreement with his reasonable suggestion, she noted with a light reddening of her cheeks, "Alright, I'll take you up on your offer... I'll, just need my hand back first, if you don't mind..."

Jaune looked down, his hand immediately unclasping hers in his embarrassment, "Oh! Sorry, I didn't realize..."

As they both stood, Blake finally letting a small smile break into her lips as she watched her companion pay for their drinks, she spoke up to get his attention, "You know, you really _are_ different... I'd never heard anyone speak the way you do after I left the Fang. Where they always assumed the worst in them, you only ever assume the complete opposite... and even when they're people like the Fang, you're willing to give them a chance..."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Jaune noted softly as his hand remained on the table, his gaze not quite meeting hers, "I'd have lost myself a long time ago in Oum-knows-what kind of loop of you weren't... anyway, let's go."

Satisfied with the statement for now, Blake nodded and followed his lead out of the cafe. And while it took a few minutes for the students to get to the docks in question, it took less than one for them to realize that they weren't alone. Peeking at the open dock area from behind a few containers, Jaune and Blake promptly saw men in masks and uniforms hauling around tow cables to hook up the crates.

"Oh no..."

"Is that them?" Jaune asked, already figuring the answer from what he could recall from memory.

Blake sighed dejectedly, staring at the bloody wolf on the back of the man's outfit before admitting _,_ "Yes... It's _them_. I guess deep down, I knew you were right. I just didn't want you to be..."

The catgirl closed her eyes in despair, only to open them suddenly when a new voice was heard.

"We're not exactly the most _inconspicuous_ bunch of thieves at the moment, so why don't you animals try to pick up the pace!?"

"This isn't right. The White Fang would never work with a Human. Especially not one like _that_ ," she stated angrily at the sight of Roman Torchwick, unsheathing the katana of her weapon as Jaune's eyes slowly went wide.

So the vision... it _was_ right! But _how_ , he'd never been there to live it... his Aura wouldn't have been able to sense that kind of extraneous timeline unless... no, couldn't be. But that'd have to be a thought for another time - there was no way he'd be able to protect Blake and face Roman at the same time without risking months'-worth of loops again-

"Blake, don't!" Jaune cut in with a restrained whisper as he caught the girl's arm in a vice-like grip, "I know you're angry, and for good reason, but I've faced this guy before back in the fild trip and-"

"Wait, you're telling me you faced Roman Torchwick!?" Blake cut in with an equally restrained whisper in disbelief, Jaune letting go of her arm if only to raise his hands in an attempt to placate her.

" _Yes_. And there's no way we make it out of here without running into _serious_ issues if he's got that much manpower on his side," looking around them, he got an idea, "Look, I know it sounds crazy, but if it's two things I know about Roman, it's that his two biggest allies are _theatricality_ and _deception_. Right now, we have the element of surprise... so I say we use those two things _against_ him to whittle down the playing field."

Blake's expression was complicated and mostly reluctant, but after a moment that she spent getting control over her breathing, she finally stated, "Fine. What do we do."

"You know if they keep the kinds of Dust hospitals use for medicine in crates around here, and where we might find them?"

"Yes, as long as it isn't Black Dust - that type is radioactive. The rest is kept usually towards the entrance of the dock area since that kind of shipment tends to take priority... Why?"

"Well, you know if those crates might have something that can act as a bio-agent of some kind?"

A moment of deliberation led to a small smirk that formed on Blake's lips.

"Follow me."

As they stealthily made their way through row after row of giant containers, Blake and Jaune noticed that there were two teams of perpetrators working in separate areas of the docks, each group comprised of about a dozen armed grunts that toiled their way around getting the crates ready for transport and pick up. Stopping in front of a white container that was about two rows away from where the second group was working, Blake wordlessly pointed at the distinctive container.

Making his way to the vertical mechanism to open the door, Jaune paused and turned to face Blake with a half-pantomime, half-whisper, "What do I do? It'll make noise when I open it."

"Coat it with Aura," Blake whispered with equal caution as she remained posted as lookout by the opposite corner, "I do it to mitigate sound when I need to be completely silent. Shouldn't be a problem for you."

Having forgotten to ask just how much of the door he should coat in Aura, Jaune simply opted to coat the whole thing with a shrug. Deadpanning at just how easily he coated the entire slab of metal with dimly glowing energy without breaking a sweat, Blake watched as he disengaged the lock and gave her a thumbs up when the door opened without so much as a squeak.

"Now what?"

"Time for the theatricality," Jaune informed with a mischievous smirk, looking at Blake's form from head to toe, "Almost works as is, but it needs to be... _creepier_."

Then taking off his armor and placing it on the floor, Jaune surprised Blake when he also took off his black hoodie and offered it to her, "I'll need you to wear this. Also, brush your hair in front of your face so nothing else can be seen. If you can, ditch the weapon and wrap the bands around your hands entirely. Can you throw a punch?"

Blake deadpanned again at the question.

"Contrary to what people may believe, Yang isn't the _only_ one on our team who knows how to throw a punch."

"Oh, really?" Jaune noted with mock-surprise and looking up in thought to count off on his fingers, "Well that's news to _me_. Let's see, I know for a fact that Ruby can't punch to save her life... Weiss would probably gripe about breaking a nail..."

"Jaune. Just keep it up and I'll _show_ you if I can throw a punch."

Simply shaking her head with a hint of a smirk as Jaune held back a chuckle, Blake put on the hoodie that ended up going down to mid-thigh and then put her weapon down to rewrap her hands. After brushing her hair forward so it all fell in front of her face, she could barely see Jaune contemplating her with hand to chin in thought before stating, "Hm. It'd be better if we lost the bow. Try holding your ears flat against you head, 'kay?"

Blake complied, reaching up to undo her bow, but was perplexed when she saw Jaune offering his hand when she'd finished undoing it. Holding the ribbon in her hand, she actually lifted the the hair up from a side of her face to give the knight a stern, questioning one-eyed glare.

"You keep my hoodie safe, I keep your bow safe. You trust me?" Jaune asked benevolently, Blake making no motion for a moment before finally placing the bow in his hand softly.

"Do you trust me?" he repeated again, the warmth in those blunt words striking her as entirely foreign.

A reluctant but definite nod from the ravenette.

"Good, cuz that's my lucky hoodie you're currently wearing and I've had it since initiation. Now, I'll need you to use your Semblance and scare the living tar out of them. And I mean seriously _freak them out_ before picking them off one by one. I'll take care of the rest - and be sure to leave the last one around here to me. Got it?"

His plan finally clicking in her mind, a dark smile befell Blake's countenance as she got in character and slowly let her hair fall to cover her entire face once more, the mere action getting Jaune to do little more than give her an unsettled smile and thumbs up before closing the door behind them.

 _meanwhile, about fifty feet away..._

"Hey, Daggett."

"Yeah, Norbert?"

"Do you... do you ever wonder why we're he-?"

 _clink_

Both Beaver-Faunuses standing guard at one of the prepped crates in the middle of the secondary dock area stood at attention and readied their firearms at the direction of the sound from behind the unprepped containers as Norbert then asked aloud, "W-What was that?"

"I dunno, go check it."

"No, _you_ go check it," Norbert replied, shoving his younger brother by only four minutes over towards the possible threat, "Worse comes to worse, you use your gun. You _know_ how to use your gun, ri-?"

"Of _course_ I know how to use my gun!" Daggett retorted hotly, his distinctive buck teeth showing from underneath his mask in the form of a sneer before shuffling towards the containers while muttering obscure obscenities.

Checking the four corners at the intersection of four multi-stacked containers, Daggett quickly shifted the barrel of his shotgun down all four before turning back to the exit, "Okay, Norbert, false alarm... nobody-"

 _clink_

The sound, seemingly closer this time, caused the Beaver Faunus to whip his gun around to see behind. Shivering slightly this time, he slowly made his way to the intersection again and repeated his motion of checking his corners, his equipment clattering loudly as he did it. Seeing no one again, the Faunus actually let himself breathe out a sigh of relief before freezing in place at the sight of a girl standing in the middle of the walkway when he turned back to exit.

A girl, he could only assume, from the long jet-black hair draped flat in front of the figure's face, the rest of its posture somewhat haphazard down to the black bandages around the darkly-clad figure's gangly fingers.

Quickly beginning to hyperventilate, she was gone in the blink of an eye however by the time he'd aimed his gun in her direction.

 _clink_

"Heee... heee... heee..."

Eyes wide in fright and breath coming out in labored heaves by now, skin clammy as the sharp vice of terror's teeth sunk in deep, he quickly backpedaled to the intersection and away from the sound before the sound of an ice-cold breath caused him to turn and see the dark apparition inches from his face.

"...EEEEEEEE!"

"D-Daggett!?" Norbert cried out from his post, rushing to where his brother had gone just in time to see him dragged around the corner of a container in horror, "What the- EEEEEEEEEEE!"

From inside the med container a few yards away, Jaune actually felt himself pale a bit as he heard subsequent yells and even the occasional pitter-patter of gunshots and imagined himself in their place.

"Man, talk about 'Taking the ball and running with it'," he mumbled to himself as he recalled to a considerable degree of certainty that he'd just heard her seethe out _'Seven Dayyyys'_ near his container a minute ago, "Anyway, back to business..."

Rummaging through even more freezers, each with their own batches of anti-septic Dust vials and whatnot, Jaune knew he'd finally hit the jackpot when he found a little black box at the bottom marked with the universal symbol of _Hazardous._ Lifting it over one of the fridges to eye level, he found that inside were two large flasks that were labeled and carefully packed into it.

Checking out the first one filled with Midnight Blue-colored Dust, Jaune's brows furrowed as he read and partly sounded-out the label out loud, " _Hazardous: Powerful Hall-u-cin-o-gen-ic. Known to afflict victims exposed to it by skin contact with hallucinations of their worst fear._ That's dumb. Last thing I want is for them to gun me down cuz they think I'm a vampire bat or something... _next_."

Picking up the next flask, he actually thought he'd accidentally picked up Black Dust until closer inspection revealed that it was actually a very dark charcoal grey - about as dark as Pyrrha's Aura when engaged.

" _Hazardous: Acute pa-ra-ly-tic. Will cause paralysis upon contact with skin or lungs._ Huh... good enough."

So as he uncorked the flask and let his Aura activate all over his body, Jaune then did the most sensible thing that any young man would do upon testing the effectiveness of a new Semblance trait...

Pour the ample contents of the hazardous Dust flask all over himself.

Meanwhile, the final Faunus stood outside beside a central container with plenty of open space around it with communication somehow having been cut off from the primary group through their channel - which should've been impossible since only a White Fang member would've been able to input the code that disabled their encrypted channel - and his back against the metallic container wall. Most of the lights had been shot out or broken, and the remaining one was swinging back and forth and causing all manner of moving shadows to be cast around the area that was fraying what little nerve the Faunus had left.

After flinching at the apparition of what he thought was the evil dark spirit of some unfortunate girl who'd met a grim fate in the docks for the hundredth time, the soldier finally snapped and rushed out, shooting his machine gun while shouting, " _Where ARE you!?_ "

Little did he notice the plume of dark smoke soundlessly descending behind him, the knight within grinning at the prospect of having some fun of his own before letting out the deepest and most guttural voice he could muster.

 **"HERE."**

" _Wahhhhhhhhhhhhh!_ "

The shrill cry of terror rang through the night as the mook was then hoisted violently into the air without another word, the sound causing several members of the primary group to turn to Roman with worry.

"Stop squealing like a bunch of pigs - no offense to the pig-Faunus who are likely here... I'm looking at you over there, Pork-Belly. They're probably just playing pranks on each other, so everyone - and Porky - get back to-!"

 _WHUMP_

And suddenly landing right in the middle of the group was the smoking figure of the staff sergeant from the other group whose eyes were peeled wide open and twitching up a storm. Needless to say, it freaked everyone out, but not as much as when what essentially was a black comet landed nearby seconds later.

Before anyone could react, an archaic silhouette within that seemed to be brandishing a sword and shield thrust the sword outward, causing a considerable plume of dark energy to fire out and engulf its first victim to leave him in much a similar state as the staff sergeant on the floor. One by one the violently-chaotic cloud moved back and forth to take out the grunts through the gunfire, but before it could fire on Roman who was still glued to where he stood in shock, the cloud turned white and regressed into a certain blonde's body.

Not minding Jaune's silent curse at himself, Roman narrowed his eyes at the space of incapacitated minions around him before shaking his head with a groan, "Well if it isn't my favorite meddling kid trying to play the part of Vale's very own Dark Knight!"

Pausing for a moment as he then saw Blake land by Jaune's side wearing her weapon and his hoodie, he continued with a smirk at the sight of her ears, "Ohhh, and it seems he brought his wittle kitten, too~"

"Takes one to know one, _pussy_."

Chuckling dryly at her catty remark, Roman brushed it off with a raised brow in condescension, "Oh, and she can _speak!_ "

"Drop it, Roman," Jaune cut in sternly, wearing nothing but his white t-shirt under his gear, "We're here to put an _end_ to your little operation once and for all."

"Ugh, not the brightest one in the bunch, are you, kid," Roman noted with a smug smirk, then motioning to the crates around him, "I mean really, you think this is all _me?_ You even know what I _am?_ I'm a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to _do_ with one if I caught it! You know, I just… _do_... things. I see what I want and I take it - and does this look _anything_ like that to you?"

At that, Jaune's face softened at the realization of a few things... Roman wasn't in the Coliseum when he died. Moreover, the joint venture of an evidently anti-Human organization with what was obviously a pretty crummy human had to mean that this went deeper than just the robberies... So maybe the knight's involvement with Ruby's team _was_ for the best, then - clearly, they knew more about foiling plots from the criminal world than anyone, so it seems he'd have to be ready to join from here on out if he was ever gonna get to the bottom of this.

For now, he'd make do with prodding at a potential shortcut.

"You're right, it looks like a drag queen is trying to pretend to be the _real_ Queen," Jaune noted aloud, immediately causing the thief to scowl deeply, "So how about you 'fess up the name and location of who you're working for!"

"Tempting. _Veeery_ tempting," Roman drawled, lighting a cigar and leaning on his cane even though hate continued seething through his voice, "But now that I remember, as much as I'd have loved to contradict your earlier comment about my 'little' operation with droves upon droves of soldiers, I wanted to let you know that I decided to go a different route after our little skirmish in the forest. I was gonna do it eventually anyways, but the timing just felt right... and it works even better now that I've been sworn not to touch you after that little present I sent you last week by air!"

Jaune's eyes widening in realization, he was the one sneering as he quipped, "Fat lot of good _that_ did you. So unless you wanna see the color of your insides, I suggest you get to the part I was talking about in the next five seconds."

Roman in turn simply deadpanned, knife-handing the air as he began, "Ooh, _very_ poor choice of words. See, as I was saying, you have my word that it won't happen again since I've been given the cease and desist on your murder... _Buuuuuuut~_ "

 _ **SHLICK**_

Jaune's eyes widened even more this time but for different reasons, looking down to see the thin blade of a chokuto stained with his lifeblood having erupted through his stomach from just underneath his armor plating on his torso, Blake's mortified expression going pale at the sight.

"~That order was never given to _her_ ," Roman concluded with a satisfied puff of his cigar, "You know, there's something I'd always wanted to tell you, Jaune. For a Tracer, you've got some monster blind spots, which means that up until now you've either been pretty quick or pretty lucky... But in either case, looks like your luck's run out."

Turning back slowly to see the multi-colored hair, garb, and eyes of his admittedly short and grinning executioner as the excruciating pain from being stabbed through an organ like the stomach set in, Jaune surprised the three people present by turning back to face Roman and chuckling even as he fell to his knees in the process.

"Only problem with that is the one thing you haven't learned about me yet," Jaune stated with a smirk even though he had to pause to cough copious amounts of blood onto the pavement before looking back up at the master thief with a bloodied smile...

"...I make my _own_ luck."

And with that, Jaune Arc died for the four-hundred thirteenth time on record.

* * *

 **A/N:** _Jaune, **nuuuuuuu!**_

 _...Oh hai, **TPS** here! So yeah, that happened. I apologize, kind of. Like I've implied in previous notes, **Knightshade** can only be catalyzed with plenty of feels in my opinion, but relax, it's not like Blake will actually remember Jaune dying next to her, technically. But with the vision stuff, well it's complicated._

 _But surprisingly simple in the end._

 _EDIT: Also, **new thing I want to do but don't know how to put in a decent disclaimer mode except maybe just DISCLAIMER directly** \- I'm gonna be doing a thing where I try to respond to **guest reviews** on the reviews page cuz so many of you guys make such great points and I'm **tired** of **not** having a way to tell you guys that! So, dear guests who for some reason or another are unable to make a free FFNet account: please feel free to **name yourselves in the guest-naming feature** so it's easier to reference **your** reviews, k? Cool. But be forewarned, flamebait will be systemically vaporized from cybernetic existence with **extreme** prejudice. __So yep, cool beans._

 _ **Type away!** _

_Question is now, **when** exactly will he loop back to? Tune in next time to find out, and don't forget to **Fave, Follow, and Review** to show your support if you're enjoying the story! So take care and-_

 _Oh right, there's like over 3k words left in the chapter. Though I know this kind of omake might really belong in **TGG** , it just fit into this part of the story too well not to put here..._

 _So, here's to **LDR's** first **crossov-omake!**_

*DISCLAIMER: Everyone in it speaks with a British accent. _Everyone_.*

* * *

 _ **Crossov-omake #1:** BBC Sherlock_

* * *

"Four hours."

" _No_..."

" _Yes_. I timed it - it only took me _four_ hours to solve the case of the Dissapearing Dust. A covert organization will rise up and attempt to cuckhold the Vytal Tournament this year under the guise of peace and equality and wotnot," the figure in the long charcoal peacoat and maroon scarf notes across the stunned companion before taking another sip of tea, " _Obviously_ , naught but a ploy. Their _true_ aim is to disrupt inter-continental communication and subjugate the kingdoms under their rule."

The blonde companion scoffs again in disbelief, decorated ivory-gold weapon in lap before retorting, "You couldn't possibly have gathered such intelligence after our lit'le _foray_ across town today! All you had to go on was a stolen piece of evidence in the form of _nail clippings_ from a recently-burglarized, dingy old Dust shop already being catered to by the bobbies!"

"How can you not see it, it's clear as day and even clearer than the forged documents you used to enter into Beacon, 'Doctor' Jaune Watson!"

The blue-eyed blonde gasps in his seat before shooting back with narrowed eyes, "Wot _nerve!_ You take that back right now - we've known each other but for two fortnights and you offend me so with such vile accusations!"

"Yet you've disregarded universal Doctor-Patient confidentiality by revealing my condition to my peers, you failed to realize the podiatric health risk of diddling around town in those ridiculous sneakers of yours... and you've _yet_ to deny my claim," a smug grin from the figure before leaning back with a dismissive wave, "But no matter, my deductions about you were made even before initiation and that scarcely affects my decision to have you as my flatmate by the end of the week. Second floor, B Wing, Room Twenty-One. Your personal affects have likely been moved into our new quarters already."

Doctor Watson feels his eye beginning to twitch as the high-functioning sociopath - according to his admittedly fake-Doctor diagnosis - sitting across from him sits back while glibly taking another sip of tea, "You _mean_... you've had me moved in with you in flat 221B _without_ permission... and you're _completely_ failing to recognize the amoral implications of said decision here!?"

"I beg your pardon, I haven't the slightest clue what you're talking about."

Jaune violently motions back and forth between himself and his cafe companion repeatedly in his growing emphatic state before noting loudly, " _Me! You!_ Living together _alone!_ Lady Holmes, does that _not_ strike any semblance of sense or sensibility in that vastly over-developed mind of yours as the least bit un- _couth!?_ "

The young woman in coat, vest, white blouse and black trousers, her jet black hair tied back with a bow in a messy ponytail looking up with her amber eyes in thought, pouts in thought for a moment while idly swinging her boot back and forth beneath the table before glancing back at the altered young male across from her.

"Not really. Should it?" she states more than asks, raising her hand to quell his reply as a smile reaches her face, "Excellent, I believe we're about to have our first client together!"

"Our first _wha-!?_ "

"Lady Blake Holmes, I presume?" a third voice begins as a blonde young man in tattered driver's cap, tattered tweed coat, tattered open shirt, and tattered short trousers approaches the pair, "Please forgive my intrusion, but I couldn't help but overhear that you were investigating the massive amounts of Dust being stolen from the area - I'd like to contribute, if I may, being that I may have an idea where said illicit Dust-relocation activities may be recurring next..."

A sip of tea before her prompt reply, "Continue."

"Oh, sod it! And how do we even know we can trust this bloke!" Jaune heatedly interjects, motioning at the bulge in the third party's coat rear, "Clearly he's already hiding his Faunus heritage from us - in retrospect, not exactly the best indicator of _good tidings_ in my history of interaction with Faunus!"

" _Simian_... Faunus," Lady Holmes extrapolates like a child pointing out the obvious, "And a reasonable guise considering the fact that this young man is currently a wanted fugitive. Liberal garb, likely hails from Vacuo, but judging by the wear in his outfit and," a lean and reluctant pair of sniffs following, " _distinctive_ marine aroma, he recently arrived to Vale through methods _other_ than by land from our desert-based sister kingdom. The lack of any decent winter-clothes rules out Atlas which means he must have come from Mistral. Despite his attire, his physique is terribly well-kept, leading me to believe that aside from the staff-like weapon he has hidden inside his coat along with his amusingly evident tail, he is being trained in the ways of a Hunter in Haven Academy."

"Y-Your reputation is certainly founded on good reason," the young man notes with a small blush only to be halted by her raised hand.

"I wos not finished. Your method of arrival was peculiar - judging by the lingering smears of banana on your overcoat and oily residue on your knees and fingernails, you were subjected not to the comfortable service of the respected Mistrali cruise liners but of a cramped voyage to our port with nothing more than a meager bunch of monkey-food for sustenance. You are but a stowaway who was apparently nearly caught, which brings me to my final point - the only likely source you've gleaned as tender to disturb my perfectly decent conversation with Doctor Watson is related to the docks themselves as likely targets for the next Dust robbery! Am I wrong, Mister...?"

"Sun."

"Oh dear, then your parents must've been even dimmer than I expected," Blake quips with a giggle, "It is already _quite_ evident that you're male..."

"Bl... Blake," Jaune interrupts respectfully, the young woman glancing at him with a lingering smirk, "I don't think his name is _Son_..."

Cocking a brow in realization, she simply glances at the deadpanning Faunus beside them before standing and clearing her throat, "Right. Of course. In either case, your efforts are appreciated, random citizen, but myself and Doctor Watson must be taking leave. An operation of such magnitude can only be brought about by the hands of Ex-Professor of Dust and Combat, Roman Moriarty! But by all means, feel free to finish the biscuits on the table, they're rather tolerable and I'm sure you're famished."

Sun is about to reply, but Blake simply pops her peacoat collar and turns to her companion, "Come now, there's not a moment to lose; the game, Mister Watson, is afoot!"

But a few minutes later as the duo stands amid the cricket-chirping silence of the docks, Jaune finally turns to face his pensive new acquaintance, "So... our helpful first client. Not so helpful?"

Blake does nothing to reply, simply looking around in the air for a moment before crouching down and pressing her palm to the floor for another moment. Standing up, she surprises her blonde associate yet again when she starts facepalming herself repeatedly.

" _Stupid_... stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid..."

"I'm sure you could fit another few adjectives in that little tirade you had just now," Jaune notes with a vague smirk, "It was actually starting to make me feel much better as well!"

"No... _no_ , _how_ could I not see it before!"

Seeing how serious she's getting as her self-depreciation continues, Jaune begins to frown at her.

"Blake... wot's gotten into you?"

"The Dust... the shops... those operations were certainly executed under the hand of Moriarty," she begins, the self-directed anger still present as she continues, "But this... _this_ is an entirely separate matter altogether."

"H-How?"

"Isn't it plainly obvious?" an equally self-assured voice answers as a man wearing a tuxedo walks around the corner of a crate wearing a snazzy top hat, accompanied by an overly-roided masked Faunus donning a chainsaw, "For the love of _Monty_ , Blake, you actually made it all the way _here_ before realizing that there was no way your 'reputation' could've spread to Mistral in but a month without so much as a single major police case mystery solved?"

Jaune watches Blake scowling at the pretentious man, leaning towards her in concern, "Some exposition would be rather appropriate right about now..."

" _He_... is my _real_ arch-nemesis..."

"Wha!? Normal people don't _have_ arch-nemesises!"

"Knowing how melodramatic she can be, I'd beg to differ," the man replies with a high and mighty tone, "Though the fault cannot be entirely credited to _her_ \- she gets it from her _mother_."

Jaune's eyes slowly widen as the realization begins to dawn on him.

"And you derive your bull-headedness from _father_ ," Blake retorts hotly, " _Literally_. Need I remind you, it took you over two months to locate me after I left... it seems you're slipping, _brother_."

A brief silence setting in as the man in the top hat's tight-lipped expression hardens into a grimace, it's promptly replaced with an idle wave of his hand much like his sister's, "Middle age. Comes to us all, sister dear."

Jaune cringes... it's just like listening to two people literally trying to see who can act the most stuck-up in a single conversation.

But then the beefy grunt leans towards the man, "Adam, we have her cornered. Why don't we simply apprehend the-"

"Anderson, don't talk out loud. You lower the IQ of the entire district!" Blake cuts in, turning to Jaune with a scoff, "Seriously, do you currently feel the slightest iota of the sensation of being cornered?"

Adam is suddenly on her, the taller man leaning over her menacingly with a growl escaping his lips, "And who's to say the two of us aren't enough to do exactly so, hm?"

"Of course I could, except for the fact that I know you better than you know yourself when it comes to, well... everything."

"I could say the same of you, dear sister."

"Really?" Blake questions defiantly, glancing at his outfit with a smirk, "I see you've put on a few pounds in my absence, hardly the image of a stalwart revolutionary."

"You've changed the way you wear your hair, a measure of doubt of your successful coping with the new life, perhaps?"

"Your fingertips are chafed - you've recently picked up playing the guitar. Are times in the Fang that bad without me?"

"You've been drinking tea again. Coupled with the pronounced jugular artery along your neck, I'd say the stress has weighed heavily on you as well."

"That doesn't count. That monkey of yours probably fed you that information as lackey-for-hire after leading us here. But you've brought _Anderson_ as your new number two. That says it all."

The large Faunus protests and Adam scowls as Blake grins at her successful deduction, his next words cutting straight home, "You've a kink in your lumbar when you shift your weight. Judging by the slope of your stance and the distinctly musty smell on your hands... of first-edition novel paper... it would seem my adventurous little sister has returned to her dreadful bedtime habit of reading literature of a, _certain_ nature."

Blake's eyes widening with a slight blush, she shoots back, "Well _you're_ no longer in charge of your own operation, aren't you! I sensed it the moment I saw you turn the corner with your left foot first - you're limping. The lingering burn marks on Wilt and your attire in such precarious areas all point to the fact that you've taken up negotiations with a female _Human_ of all people... pyrokinetic, most likely."

Adam's resolve finally seems to take on the quality of his weapon's namesake, the bull-Faunus sighing before replying dejectedly, "Not quite..."

And in another second, the sounds of broken glass signal the appearance of a young woman donning white trousers, matching blazer over corcet, and lacey parasol at which Blake immediately narrows her eyes.

" _Neopolitan Adler_... 'The Woman.' There's always something that goes amiss with my initial deductions, but it actually makes sense that a dominatrix such as yourself would've brought my troglodyte of a brother to his knees..."

"Oh, sweetie, you need not be so harsh on flesh and blood," Neo suddenly begins with a fluid and serene vocal tone of a young woman mixed with the coldness of one who would kill you dead without the slightest remorse, "And men neednt require such persuasions to relent to a woman with certain... tastes... just ask Lord Ironwood. After all, your very relation with Duke Adam Mycroft Holmes implies my capability of doing the same with _you_..."

The short young woman all but sashays to the increasingly uncomfortable amber-eyed detective, glancing up longingly at her features, "Just _look_ at that immaculate bone structure... I could cut myself slapping those cheeks. Under different circumstances, I just might have my way with you until you begged for mercy twice..."

"I've never begged for mercy in my lif-!"

" _Twice_."

"Erm... this situation is going to the sodder rather quickly, isn't it," Jaune notes in an aside, to which Blake nods with a small gulp.

"Aha! I've found you now!"

Turning to see a young woman in a red hood, corcet, combat skirt, and tiny bowler hat, Blake smiles in realization, "Ruby Lestrade! Am I glad to see you! And I see you've even brought Molly along-"

" _Penny_."

"Thas wot I said."

"By the power vested in me from Beacon Yard, you're under arrest!" Ruby exclaims with a dramatic point at the villainous trio below, Neo simply turning to give Blake a small smirk before turning to walk back to Adam and Anderson.

"But in any case, I'm afraid we're in a compromised situation among mixed company, so I suppose we should take our leave. Till next time, Lady Holmes - and let this day be remembered as the first of many defeats of that sexy intellect of yours by my hand... toodles!"

Narrowing her eyes in suspicion, Blake glares at Neo as Ruby gives Penny the order to fire, only for the stun rays to crash through the images of their adversaries like glass... along with the images of every single crate of Dust at the docks around them. Glancing up at the sky to see the last of a few Bullheads packing the real Dust crates disappear over the horizon as Ruby and Penny join them, Blake turns to face Jaune.

"Y'know, Watson... despite my initial qualms with involving myself with Beacon Yard, I suddenly find the idea much more appealing. Solving this case and apprehending the criminals responsible will certainly advance our notoriety as ace-detectives in the field of domestic terrorism!"

"Along with an Eighty-Nine-point-Seven percent probability of fatality, by my calculations," Penny states, who for some reason is wearing her usual greenish garb under a white labcoat.

"I see... how fatal, exactly?" Blake asks pensively, to which Penny replies with a raised brow.

"... _Completely_."

"Superb! The merit of a protagonist can only be measured by the lethality of the antagonists he-or-she faces! Come, Watson, we must depart to our flat immediately to ascertain our next move!"

" _Our_ flat?" Ruby echoes in question at Jaune as Blake takes her leave, a small smirk growing on her features as she continues, "You mean... you two are...?"

Jaune gives out a frustrated sigh before explaining while knife-handing the air with both hands, " _No_ , you see, Lady Holmes prefers to be considered as 'married to her work;' our _living situation_ is not by any means, _anything_ more than a professional arrangement designed to facilitate such endeavors!"

"...Suuuureee."

"Oh, sod it!"

 ***Jaune stomps away from a smug Ruby and Penny behind Lady Holmes as the BBC Sherlock outro theme music plays in the background***

* * *

 **A/N:** _Dreadfully entertaining to write, that was. I'm afraid you'll have to forgive me for its length... it did get a bit away from me._

 _In any case, a rousing challenge to write, even though I realized that Neo's playing the part of Irene Adler could easily have been done by Cinder as well. But Neo wins this time since I've just introduced her into the story itself._

 _EDIT: **Quick reminder** \- I'll be trying to reply to guest reviews from here on out so by all means feel free to have at it!_

 _And honestly, I think the upcoming fight ***might*** turn out to be my favorite one I've written to date. I mean, I'm writing it already because of how giddy I get from the idea but can't add it to this chapter due to length reasons. Which is a bummer._

 _But still something to look forward to in the future! So until then, take care,_

 ** _And_** ** _Happy Reading!_**

* * *

 _ **Live. Die. Repeat.**_

 _TPS (c) 2015, 2018_


	11. Omake: Groundhog Day

**_Groundhog Day Omake!_**

* * *

 **A/N:** _Don't be mad, c'mon._

 _You have to admit that you totally could've seen a Groundhog Day omake coming on Groundhod Day for a fic that bears so much kinship to another time loop story called Groundhog Day._

 _This omake will be non-canon to LDR, though a part of me just wants to make it a forgotten loop or something. Meh._

 _That being said, be forewarned that there may be S3E10 (Season 3, Episode 10) canon spoilers ahead._

 _...There **will** be S3E10 canon spoilers ahead._

* * *

"Only problem with that is the one thing you haven't learned about me yet," Jaune states with a smirk just as he deftly sidesteps a chokuto-lunge from a now _very_ surprised Neo who's suddenly appeared behind him, "...I make my _own_ luck."

Roman's smirk fades into a scowl, flicking his cigar as he idly twirls his cane into battle grip, "Well I'll give you one thing, kid - your one-liner game is _definitely_ on point today."

"Then let's _dance!_ "

"Aaaand there it went..."

But even as Blake engages Neo, the two already flicking in an out of spectral view around each other as their battle begins, Jaune and Roman are barely able to reach each other with angered battle cries when the entire ground suddenly begins rocking beneath them. Like a giant earthquake, the ships, crates, and unconscious white fang mooks on the ground vibrate and shake, forcing the fighting to reach a temporary standstill as the quake subsides...

Only for the quake to return once more, even stronger this time.

Roman and Neo trade a concerned glance, Jaune and Blake about to reengage their opponents when Neo suddenly teleports to Roman's side who merely holds up a finger to their approaching blades.

"Hold on. Kind of an important call to make here."

Maybe it's the tone of voice, or the genuine concern under the ever-annoyed resting face of the criminal, but the students decide to wait as Roman takes out a small communicator and holds it up to his ear even as the quaking continues once more.

"Are you feeling what we're feeling?"

' _Of course I am_ ,' a voice comes back across the line, smooth an sultry but apparently rushed as well, ' _But what makes no sense is **why**_.'

"You're telling _me!?_ You're the one who said it wasn't due to come out in a few months! How's this even possible!?" Roman yells back into the line, not even caring to hold the scroll to his ear as he is now simply holding it in front of his face for optimum yell volume capturing.

' _We've no idea! Somehow the despair and irony levels to awaken it have compounded much more quickly than we anticipated!_ '

Jaune blinks where he stands, even as Roman and Neo since at the voice barking at them through the line.

"Huh... well... wonder who might've caused that... heh..."

"What do you mean? _What's_ 'coming out'?" Blake calls out to the criminals, no longer liking the idea of being left out of the loop here.

 _ **EEEEEEEE! EEEEEEYYAAAAAAARRRRKKK!**_

A final quake precedes a violent rumbling, the students almost swearing they could see a mountain breaking in the distance as Roman and Neo almost instinctually turn to face it with weapons bared.

Scowl now a grimace, Roman growls through gritted teeth, "A _very_ early retirement..."

' _Roman, it's no longer of any use to us if it's appeared this soon - just use the hired hands at your disposal and take care of it!_ ' the voice comes through a final time before the master thief sneers at the scroll and simply chucks it off the docks.

Irony, indeed.

"Only meant to come out one day every year if the circumstances are right, it's one of the most ancient and dangerous creatures of Grimm," Roman explains loudly over the sound of cracking earth when the mountain shatters to reveal the most sinister-looking creature they've ever seen, "A Draconian Groundhog known as Punxsutawney Phil!"

"That! Does _not_ look like a groundhog!" Jaune cries out almost deliriously as the beast spears its massive Crimson wings from a distance, adamantly pointing his sword at the beast with every word.

"It came out of the _ground_ , didn't it!?"

Blake facepalms as Jaune throws his hands up in frustration, " _Man_ I hate logic!"

But as Roman and Neo begin hastily making what plans that can being that the girl doesn't seem to utter a word the entire time the two make wild arm gestures at each other, Jaune takes a good, long look at the beast seemingly coming right at him from miles away.

The shiver in his spine and the chill in his breath tell him that somehow... just somehow... they're connected.

And that if _that_ thing kills him... he just might not come back.

Jaune turns back to Blake, surprised at the lack of panic in his own system in light of his possible surmise as he approaches her, "Blake, I need to come clean... I'm not a tracer. Everything you know about me is maybe half true at best, and everything I know about you is true without a doubt..."

Blake furrows her brows at him, genuinely confused at the implication, "But... How...?"

"Blake, I'm a time-traveller. Dying puts me in a time loop until I can solve it, and I've come back from the future to make things right... I know things about everyone that none of you even know are gonna happen yet..."

"Wait," Blake begins, seemingly guarded all of a sudden, "So everything we do or say... you already know and can use to manipulate us into doing whatever you want!? How do I know you haven't tried seducing me or my teammates already!?"

Jaune balks at the implication, unsure what to say until he sees the catgirl's gaze suddenly drift down to the floor between them with a growing blush on her cheeks.

"...That'd, actually be kinda kinky..."

His face immediately going flat at her reaction, Jaune blinks a few times before he decides to do what he does best... wing it.

"Well being that this thing gives me the biggest 'dead end' vibe I've ever gotten and I've got a _pretty_ good feeling I won't be coming back from this," Jaune notes before moving forward and wrapping his free arm around the ravenette's waist, the catgirl going completely stiff as he pulls them tightly together, "At least I won't have to worry about living this down..."

At that, Jaune cranes his neck down to lock the wide-eyed girl's lips with his, Blake stunned for merely a moment before she finds eyes dropping shut as the rest of herself simmers in the oh-so-pleasurable sensation. Slowly pulling away after a few seconds, Blake's hand rests on his chest as she smirks at him with a half-lidded gaze.

"Seems like your one-liner game isn't the only thing on point today," is all she stays before her lips drive her to repriotitize speaking to lip-locking once more.

Finally done with their plans, Roman's about to turn and explain the situation when he freezes at the two students making out a few feet away, " _Seriously!?_ Now this is why I hate teenagers! Can you believe this, Neo!?"

The girl beside him shaking her own head in agreement, Roman continues, "I blame that Oum-forsaken show for bringing this hormonal craze on your generation... what, what was it again... ah yes, _Glee!_ Somehow, it's _Glee_ 's fault that these kids just keep getting _weirder!_ "

"You were saying something?" Jaune finally comments as he realizes they were being spoken to, finally stepping back from a pink-cheeked Blake who's still biting her lips to savor the lingering taste he's left on them.

" _Punxsutawney Phil! Coming this way!_ Cuz obviously, some _boob_ decided Groundhog Day should come _way too early this year!_ "

"To be honest, for some reason it feels like it came right on time," Jaune notes as he loosens himself up to fight again before deadpanning at the criminals, "What do you guys even _plan_ to do against that thing? Smack it into a rage quit while she annoyingly pokes it with that stupid blade of hers? I'm tellin you, people would hate how cheap she fights if she weren't so... _ggrrraaahhhhh!_ "

With the massive Grimm closing in, Neo simply grins at Jaune - since being the master of body language she is, she can easily tell his exasperated growl is actually meant to say [adorable] or [cute AF] - as Roman points his cane at him accusingly, "Now wait one _second_ , just _who_ do you think you are to talk like you know!?"

"I've _seen_ how you two fight, _thousands of times!_ " Jaune cries out, deciding to take the prudent route and leave out the part that somehow, the residual buildup of negativity from that looped battle in the space-time continuum _might_ have something to do with their current situation, "And now this!? I'll have to be straight with you - we're gonna need a little more traction as a _team_ if we're gonna get through this!"

Cringing at the keyword, Roman has no choice but to relent despite the strange words, "Fine. Temporary truce it is. Neo, get Fall on the line... we're gonna have to fight Hell in the sky with our own Hell on ground. No one gets out of this with their hands clean - Queen's gotta have something to _rule over_ for it to count, after all."

With a smirk, Jaune turns to do the same with Blake, "We'll need all the help we can get. Call everybody."

Phone calls made and finished, the four fighters turn to face the apparently much larger Grimm than anticipated that merely seconds away from firing range. Dropping down into crouched battle positions, Blake momentarily rests her hand on his with a single mantra from her lips, "For Beacon."

Jaune smiles, one more battle in the war he's to fight for his generation, "For Beacon."

 _approximately 2,016 seconds later..._

"Mmf... this is actually pretty good..."

"Yeah, who knew Vale had a decent shawarma joint?"

In a massive U-shaped booth where every male is now missing their armor and every female is missing _just_ the right amount of clothes in _just_ the right places, teams RWBY, JNPR, CRMEN (Cinder, Roman, Mercury, Emerald, and Neo), and even Adam with the large Lieutenant sit while eating the delectable meals that serve as a universal symbol of a job well done as Nora takes another massive bite of hers.

"Almost even as good as pancakes! * _GLOMP_ * mmm... _shawarmaaaa_..."

"I'm certain it needednt be said even in light of our combined efforts tonight, but be aware that as of tomorrow, our goals will remain just as opposed as they ever were," Cinder states casually from one end of the booth before daintily savoring the remnant of her meal from the tip of her finger.

"Ah well I'm pretty sure you guys were there to steal the Dust," Ruby begins dismissively between bites of her own meal, "And... mmf... we saw all the White Fang guys lying around the place when we got there, so obviously you were planning something big where lots of Dust could be used against lots of people. Only thing I could think of that'd fit the bill for that kind of set up this year is the tournament, so I already told Ozpin that we should keep a heads up for any sabotage and stuff..."

Now with a slight hint of concern, Emerald leans over to Cinder by her side with a whisper, "We're gonna need a new way in."

"That's what she said~"

" _Shut up_ , Mercury."

At Mercury's other side, Adam looks over the condiments in front of him before finding the one he wants and glancing at the catgirl across that table with a hint of a smirk, "Would you mind passing the salt... _darling?_ "

But the only response is the sound of mecha-shifting weaponry before all eyes turn to Jaune who then sets Nora's Magnihild on the table with a loud clang and the barrel pointed right at the Bull-Faunus, the implicit danger of his finger awfully close to the trigger matched only by the steely 'I _WILL_ kill you' glare on his face.

" _Eat your sandwich, Taurus._ Unless you _insist_ salt would go nicely with your last supper."

Raising his hands placatingly, the Faunus goes back to his meal as the situation is slowly diffused before the Lieutenant, who looks even larger than usual sitting between Adam and Neo, speaks up.

"All things considered... it was truly a grand and glorious battle. The White Fang will go down in history as truly a force to be reckoned with..."

Weiss leans over to Ren as she regards the strangely familiar official with a whisper, "Is it just me, or does he look a bit like that second-year student, Yatsuhashi?"

Ren shrugs with tortilla chip in hand, "Crossed my mind, but I doubt it. Too many things don't add up."

The heiress nods in agreement - because really, can someone be faulted just because they bear a resemblance to someone else?

"True that, Meatswing," Yang notes at the Lieutenant from the other end of the booth with a slurp of her soda, "Really blew that one out of the water."

"But... it was an _avian_ Grimm..."

"Please forgive him," Adam points out before the misunderstanding can perpetuate, "Drax isn't very good with metaphors, they'll just go over his head."

" _Nothing_ goes over my head. My reflexes are too fast... I would _catch_ it."

"Still... Yang's right," Jaune remarks, giving a lingering glare of concern at the Lieutenant who is nodding to himself in satisfaction before the knight turns to give his teammates and peers a winning smile, "Every one of you made this possible, and I couldn't be prouder of how we combined our forces today... Thing is, today helped remind me that sometimes you have to say the things that you might not think have to be said, cuz you never know if you're never gonna get a chance to say it again. So I want you to know, I totally love you guys!"

"We love you too, Jaune!" Ruby exclaims happily, the remaining students raising their drinks as well.

Blake gives a single knowing nod, the knight and the nightshade trading a knowing smirk as she adds, "Yep."

"Ditto," Yang notes as the remaining team members add words of agreement soon after.

" _Sweet,_ love all around!" Mercury adds while raising his own cup, hope clearly growing in his voice along with his grin, "So let's all go somewhere and get _intimate!_ Yeah!"

He pipes down after receiving several glares and a painful nudge to the side from Emerald before muttering at the students, "I mean... fine, yeah, love you guys too, whatever..."

And following a very loud belch from the peeved master thief as he finishes his meal - the only contribution he's made all conversation - all eyes turn to the multi-colored assassin by his side in the middle of everyone as she drops her fork with a sigh.

"And I hate _all_ of you."

* * *

 **A/N:** _And that's that! More to come soon!_

 _Oh, and the shawarma joint? Totally same setting as HISHE's Superhero Café ;)_

 _So yeah, couldn't help using the spoilers partly because they're awesome and partly because there were elements in the last episode I'd used before in other fics. Really, like Ironwood's Iron Fist... or the Atlas robots' vulnerability to teh haxors... or that double-blade Grimm/Nevermore decapitation **in every single fic I've written!** Well, my two mains, anyway._

 _All RT needs to do is add another OC that's kinda like a Phantom and kinda like a Scribe and my life will be complete!_

 _Totally plausible, considering they can apparently also have a scene where two protagonists have a four minute conversation and a two minute phone call in a wide open area smack dab in the middle of a massive Grimm incursion without being attacked **once**. Plot armor at its finest, yeah!_

 _So now while I'm on a roll, I reveal my biggest theory yet, which I'll bet all my marbles and ethereal writing prowess comes true... The Old Man/Wizard **ain't** Ozpin (don't know why everyone's saying that he is, even though lots of my stories depict him as practically immortal), **it's**..._

 ** _The Shopkeeper._**

 _Anyway, please don't hate me for my faux-chapter and **Fave, Follow, and Review** instead? But as always, take care..._

 _ **And Happy Groundhog Day!**_


	12. Anomalous Propagation, Pt 1

_**Anomalous Propagation, Pt. 1**_

* * *

"Four hours."

" _No_..."

" _Yes_. I timed it. Didn't even stop once."

Jaune sighed as he sat back in muted stupefaction - albeit a fairly rehearsed one - the twilight hour nearly passing as the two students sat at a table on the roof of a Valean café. It wasn't too far inland, that with the smell of the mid-city docks still coming in every now and again with the breeze and all, but the rooftop balcony seating provided privacy. And the menu was pretty cheap. But with food far from his mind, Jaune simply shrugged with a tired stare at the wrought-iron coffee table between them.

"Well how 'bout that..."

Blake nodded understandingly at the statement, though it was in fact with a measure of curiosity as well, "I'd never seen someone practice the exact same combinations so often before... is it a sort of training regimen?"

"...Something like that," was the knight's flat reply as he idly tapped the table, the catgirl finding it odd that... _something_... seemed to be missing from the usually upbeat leader's demeanor.

Strange behavior aside, she couldn't help narrowing her amber eyes a bit at the training itself that she'd practically spent four hours spying on from him that afternoon - at one point, he'd even collapsed his shield and starting swinging it around as if it were some sort of second blade in the middle of a city street intersection, for Oum's sake!

"The combination lasted almost _fifteen minutes_. Every time. Not to mention the fact that you seemingly 'decided' to train while everyone was out looking for me."

"Had a feeling it'd keep your attention long enough in case you could see me," he noted at that, looking back up at her with a wry smile, "Besides... I really needed to squeeze in some training at the time..."

Blake blinked, her head nearly imperceptibly ticking to the side in curiosity - a likely Faunus-influenced trait that Jaune realized long before signaled genuine curiosity from the otherwise indifferent introvert.

"...For what?"

No response... only his smile remained. Blake wasn't comfortable with staring at it, but for some reason, she couldn't look away. She'd never seen such a hollow gesture... and the only thing riveting her attention to him now was how coincidentally _perfect_ a reflection it all was to her current inner persona. He seemed as lively as ever while he trained... _furiously_ trained, almost... which was exactly what'd kept her from leaving her hiding spot until hearing him talking about her into his scroll in the evening... but after giving him a chance to explain, now he looked like this... the polar opposite hidden under a pathetic excuse of a charade.

Despite herself, despite how angry she knew she deserved to be at his asinine blunder in revealing her heritage earlier that day... all she wanted to know right now was why he _looked_ so much like the way she was currently feeling.

But her answer never came as life suddenly seemed to pool within his muted cerulean orbs at the sounds of distant footsteps. Her ears caught the sounds, at least... but no one had entered their corner of the rooftop terrace, partially barred from the rest of the tables by little hedges places around the area. How'd Jaune know someone was-?

"Ah, right on time," the knight began, his eyes all but shining by now as the lanky waiter approached the table with notebook in hand, "Don't worry about food - she'll take a tea. Earl Grey, black. And I'll take a brew of your Death Wish coffee. Like, _stat_."

Seemingly taken aback, an expression on the stoic man that Blake immediately knew wasn't something that happened often in his profession, the man was about to raise a finger in objection when Jaune mimicked the motion first and cut in, "Ah ah, I know that only one café in Vale has monopolized the import of Remnant's strongest bean, and I also know it's been notorious for keeping its identity secret for _years_... but I _know_ that this is the place."

The man blinked at the blonde incredulously, "H-How-?"

"Hmm, you know," Jaune stated smugly as he leaned forward with an elbow at the table, his usual contentment now transcending into what Blake could only describe was her on a _very_ good day, "The beauty of the irony here is that _you_ told me..."

Now, both Blake and the man glared at the young student... okay, maybe his tell-take reaction to Jaune's evident baiting for information was a giveaway, but it's not like there was any _irony_ in that...

"Oh. And I know you'll have to call it in to your boss to get the okay. Carmelle, right? Yeah. Don't bother, I'm afraid holding you from other customers this long actually led to a little 'mishap' on the floor below us involving a disgruntled regular that she's gonna have you attend to any moment now," Blake cocked a brow as she saw Jaune wink - yes, _wink!_ \- at the man before continuing with a smirk, "Just tell her I'm that guy from that time at that place with that thing involving my _cane_."

...

 _Ring! Ringring! Ring! Ringring!_

Blake and the waiter froze when the scroll under the man's fabric stain guard on his waist rang like clockwork after Jaune finished, the man slowly picking it up and bringing it to his ear with a disturbed dry gulp, "Y-Yes?"

...

"Yes... downstairs? ...Mister Al'Aran, the nice one? ...Oh, not that one; _Councilman_ Al'Aran, the frequent customer? ...Ah yes, I know, I was about to head down and give him the requested Death Wish brew after attending to the terrace table..."

The man winced, realizing he'd just given away the very name of the brew he'd so surely denied that the café supplied. But by this time, Blake had stopped glaring at the slightly pale waiter to glare her own glare at the smiling knight with a slightly slackened jaw.

 _What kind of Semblance did he have again!?_

"Very well, right away, Carmelle," the waiter continued, clearly scrambling to recuperate his stoic professionalism before adding with slightly narrowed eyes at the innocent-looking student as if taking the opportunity to verify his little trick, "Also... the man on the terrace table just asked for _your_ okay - by name - on a cup of Death Wish coffee as well."

...

"I know, I tried to tell him that he's mistaken..."

...

"Yes, but he seems adamant that _we_ are the underground supplier," a short pause before the waiter seemingly continued with a silenced huff with no other recourse, "He says... he says he's that 'guy'..."

...

"Vague, I know... Oh? Well, no, but he did say he's the one from that 'time'..."

...

"No no, at that 'place' as well..."

...

"No idea. He said it was the one where the thing happened involving his 'cane'..."

...

The man's shoulder's slackened with the next pause, gazing at Jaune as if the young blonde were royalty before hedging in disbelief, "Yes of course. I'll placate Councilman Al'Aran and make him a fresh brew right away... wait, make him a brew and _then_ attend to Councilman Al'Aran!? ...Er, um, _no!_ I mean _yes_ , of course, right away!"

The waiter quickly slammed the scroll shut as he gaped at Jaune, "But how! You're nowhere near old enough to be-"

"He's my dad," Jaune slipped in easily enough; but Blake had seen his genuine smile before... and _this_ wasn't _that_ , "Gave me her name and what to say. Don't blame yourself, he's super secretive like that."

A final pause as the two men glared at each other, but it was the waiter who eventually yielded, his gaze softening with a nearly imperceptible nod, "Very well... I'll return shortly, as well as with the lady's tea."

And with that, the waiter took the menus and left... Blake noticing Jaune's smile at the waiter immediately fading as he took out a pen from the notepad the waiter had inadvertently left on the table to scribble something in it before turning to her as if he knew what was coming his way. And that was starting to get _very_ annoying...

"What was that."

"What was what?" Jaune answered innocently as he quickly covered the notepad, seemingly trying to hold back a smirk as if to a joke he knew the punch line to already which only got her ears to flatten on her head.

"That. _All_ of that. Heck, _everything_ ," she began, restraining herself for the sake of the waiter who seemed like he might've been returning soon... but hang it all if she wasn't going to sate her curiosity first! "First you come to this school and call out my secret right off the bat. Then you go around acting like you've known us all for ages. And now the antics, pushing people's buttons with such precision! It's inconceivable!"

"Whoa now, I'll tell you," Jaune began at the clearly flustered teen, at least ditching the smirk for a bit as he held up both hands placatingly... until the smirk returned, " _After_ he gives me my jo!"

A snarl practically escaping her lips as she whirled around to see the waiter returning and realized Jaune'd sensed him coming before _she_ could a _second_ time, she turned back as the man served her the tea and him the mug which she realized by his reaction was the very thing that had caused life to return to his eyes in the first place.

"Ohhhhhh~" he all but cooed as he gently caressed the curve of the porcelain cup before beginning to lift it to his lips, "How I've missed you, Coffee-chan~"

The waiter rolled his eyes with a slight shiver at the knowledge that the brew could easily burst the heart of a lesser man, "You _are_ your father's son, I suppose..."

And with a single sip from his mug, Blake realized Jaune seemed as normal as he ever was, the young leader turning to give a nod to the stoic waiter, "I guess so. Thanks; by the way... I never got your name."

The lanky man paused but eventually shrugged, "Ren. Kylo Ren."

And Blake saw that smirk return to Jaune's face, the punch line one, as he asked, "No relation to _Lie_ Ren, by any chance?"

At that, Blake watched as the waiter's eyes lit up for the first time she'd seen, the man bristling up in shock as he glanced at the blonde, "Second cousin. He... he was the only one to survive a certain... incident, in our hometown when we were much younger - you know where he is!?"

"Course. He's at Beacon, with me in the same team," Jaune finally let out as he grinned a mighty grin, surprising Blake further by picking up the notepad and handing it to the waiter with his finger on the scribbles he'd made earlier, "Here. His scroll number so you guys can catch up... I think it'll really make his year."

Kylo took the crummy piece of paper in his hands as if it were a bar of gold, his attitude completely changed now as he turned back up to give the knight a small smile, "Thank you... this... means a lot. You're a good man, and I don't doubt you'll one day grow to do great things as Headmaster like your father is as well!"

The waiter then nodded at his own words before turning and walking away, Jaune seeming to be totally unsurprised that the man would make his exit so suddenly like that as a few things clicked in the catgirl's head.

"Wait... Ozpin," she began, suddenly not so surprised that this eccentric - and possibly bipolar - teen might actually bear relation to the equally eccentric and reportedly strongest Hunter on Remnant, "Is your _father?_ "

...

Jaune snorted, "Pfft, _nope_."

A flaring deadpan from the ravenette which only seemed to amuse him further.

" _But_... to answer your question from earlier," he continued before taking another sip of coffee and then shrugging, "Guesses."

" _Guesses_."

He nodded contentedly, taking another heavenly sip before elaborating, "Honestly, everything you saw just now, just guesses. I'll admit the last one about the witer's identity was a total shot in the dark too at first; but as it turns out, it was a pretty good one."

Blake simply stared; not glared, just stared... disbelief a strange fit for her normally passive features as Jaune chuckled at the sight, "Like Kylo said, the brew's a huge secret or something, so I thought I'd try it. But lo and behold, apparently we weren't supposed to know about it being sold here... so of everyone I know, I let myself take a guess with Ozpin being a possible buyer. Cuz seriously, do _you_ think a single man can be the Headmaster of a school that size by running on just a _normal_ cup of coffee every day?"

A slow shake of the dumbfounded ravenette's head at the depth of Jaune's quick thinking.

"I agree. So I had to be _just_ specific enough to reveal the identity of a potential buyer while being _just_ vague enough to be believable... it's a fine line, you know."

She could certainly agree with _that_... _yes_ , yes it was. But even though the young leader had just won serious respect points in her book, Blake still narrowed her eyes at him in question.

"That's fine... but that doesn't explain how you knew so many details _before_ the fact. The name of the location manager, for example. And the incident downstairs."

Jaune hummed pensively, though she guessed it was clearly for show even as he gave a slow nod to her words as if he instead were acknowledging her own depth of mind, "You're very right, Blake..."

Blake raised her brow with the pause that followed, clearly expecting more, "Soooo..."

With a short-lived smirk, Jaune then placed the mug on the table that he'd been holding with both hands at the time as if it were the ambrosia of Monty Oum himself before leaning forward with both hands clasped in front of said mug.

"Blake, if it's one thing I've learned about you, it's that you don't take to believing things easily just cuz they're _said_ to you," a short pause, clearly for effect as the ravenette noted and just as easily admitted actually succeeded in capturing her full attention, "You learn best when they're proven by being _shown_ to you first..."

His deduction of her true heritage... his ability to fight diverse opponents with mastery in the art of counter-attacks... and the locations and movements of several people in the same building along with the identification of a family member to his teammate? It all came together at once as realization dawned on her, "You're... you're a _Tracer_."

"Atta girl," he warmly confirmed before he unclasped his hands and reached one across the table, resting it a scant few inches away from hers, "But you'd probably ask how I learned that much about them so quickly even with a Tracer-type Semblance... so here, take my hand."

A short moment of hesitation from the ravenette, Jaune catching the lightest of blushes tinting her cheeks before playfully deadpanning at her, "C'mon... it's a _test_ , not a display of affection."

Giving him a glare at his condescending tone, Blake huffed before petulantly lifting her hand and letting it drop in his for him to do the work in accommodating it into his grip with a light squeeze. Her breath almost hitched when he did that... his hand was unexpectedly warm...

"Hmm, yep. There she is, Blake Belladonna," Jaune noted glibly with eyes closed, looking more like a cheap imitation of a fortune-teller with his dramatic hums of supposed spiritual discernment... Blake was not amused.

"Jaune..."

"Ah?" he interrupted, eyes still closed as he cocked a brow, "There's a lot about you under wraps, y'know. And I'm not talking about that bow. For a girl who tries so hard to conceal your identity, you're actually quite proud of your race. Which isn't surprising, considering you use every quality your heritage gives you to its fullest whenever you fight..."

"...And _you_ would know how I fight?"

"More than you could possibly imagine," Jaune now stated flatly, instantly dropping the act as his eyes opened with a hint of that steel she'd seen in them before and he gently released her hand, "That, and _a lot_ more. Blake, _look_ , I know you're afraid... afraid of where you came from, afraid of you are, afraid of where you're headed... Heck, I even know you're afraid enough to go back to the Fang hoping that things can maybe, just _maybe_ , go back to the way things were."

This time, when Jaune paused, Blake made no reaction. Whether it was what he said, or how sure he'd said it, she was now frozen solid to her seat.

"Your entire style - your agility, your speed, and your Semblance - when you fight... it's all used to avoid every single hit you can. Because you are also _that_ afraid thinking about that one day you might get that hit, that bullet, or that stab you won't come back from. I know this, not just because I've seen it in you, but because I've felt the _very same thing_..."

At that, the spell was broken, Blake's brows softly furrowing at the knight who was just as sincere with that last statement as he ever was. Really? After the incredible power he'd shown throughout his time at Beacon, not to mention what he'd just done _here_... Jaune Arc was _afraid?_

"That's right," Jaune continued as if sensing her very thoughts, now taking her hands lying limply on the table softly within both of his, "So when I say that you'll get better by staying here in Beacon with us because that is the _you_ I see in your future - working, training, and growing beside three of the other most incredible girls I know... it's because I learned the very same lesson... staying here in Beacon without giving up. With _you_ guys."

Blake didn't even realize her vision was slowly becoming blurry until her eyes began to sting, blinking the moisture away before breaking her gaze and lightly shaking her head, "Jaune... you couldn't possibly understand-"

"Understand what? The sheer pain you and your kind have been through?" Jaune retorted, his words sharp but his tone as soft as his hold on her hands before he simply shook his own head, "No... I don't. I never will. Because I _haven't_ faced the discrimination, the torture, and the worldwide rejection firsthand that caused the White Fang to come to be in the first place. But that was _then_ , Blake. This... this is now!"

Blake turned up to glance at him with an almost disdainful scoff. A _human_ , actually trying to argue for the inception of the Fang while knowing full well what it became? It was almost laughable! But then, he continued...

"But even if I never experienced it, you really think I can't imagine what Faunus have had to endure... pushed back into the slums of every kingdom, marginalized despite their incredible abilities, and minimized throughout history even as far back as the Battle of Verdun? Y'know, I may not be a seer, but I'm willing to stand shoulder to shoulder with _any_ Faunus out there who says the Seven Stars were just as real as the General who led them!"

Blake blinked at the knight, her mind drawing a blank at how a human teenager would have knowledge about Menagerian records which were well out of the reach of humans even as influential as Ozpin, but he only smiled at her and spoke before she could question it, "Yeah, I know some history. Something I learned from a friend whom I'd trust with my life and my own weapon in a heartbeat. See Blake, thing is, you trust your friends, and you _believe_ them when they say they want to help you. That's how it's supposed to be. And even if you don't think you can believe that your own team wants to help you yet... please, at least believe me when I say _I_ want to help you. That _we_ want to help you... that we _can_ help you..."

Blake screwed her eyes shut, her bow drooping down on her head before she replied with a shaky voice, "Then help me believe, Jaune... _make_ me believe, like you do..."

The knight sighed, unable to ever kick the habit of glancing to the side in his reflectively strange way of giving her some privacy to vent those emotions before slowly lifting his second hand from above her hand to her shoulder. Seeing that she made no immediate reaction, he decided to rub her shoulder a bit while he wondered as he has several times before how unlikely it was that her team would've gotten her to vent this much with just one conversation. By this time, he _definitely_ knew that it'd have taken at least _two_ for sure, facilitated by none other than Yang, no doubt...

"Alright then," he finally began, letting her regain her composure before stating, "I'll show you..."

Putting his hand down from her shoulder, Jaune gave her a warm smile as she looked up at him with a curious glance despite her reddened eyes.

"That's right. During the week, I heard Weiss complaining about how the field trip had forced her to use up way more Dust than she had available from her weekly supply and how her request to her dad's company for an advance shipment had a butterfly effect, making their huge Dust shipment that was scheduled to come in to Vale on Sunday come in tonight instead..."

"Butterfly effect?" Blake echoed in question, to which Jaune chuckled softly.

The way she asked it never got old.

"Heh yeah, it means how little things that get moved out of place can slowly become a big thing over time through a chain of events - like how the air moved by a butterfly flapping its wings here in Vale can indirectly cause the beginning of a hurricane across the world in Mistral!" Jaune continued, though he wished stopping something like a hurricane was only truly as simple as killing the butterfly in practice, "Well anyway, instead of testing your theory on the White Fang by returning, let's go and find out if the robberies are connected by seeing if they jump on the payload while it's most vulnerable. If they're not there, then I'll personally let you do as you please - your argument for the Fang's redemption in the light of their innocence would be as valid as my argument for yours. But if they show..."

Blake's nod signaling her agreement with his reasonable suggestion, she noted with a light reddening of her cheeks, "Alright, I'll take you up on your offer... I'll, just need my hand back first, if you don't mind..."

Jaune looked down, his hand immediately unclasping hers as he hid a small smile, "Oh! Sorry, I didn't realize..."

But before they could stand, Jaune was interrupted by a short addendum, "Um, one thing, though..."

"...Hm?"

He followed her gaze to his drink, smirking as he had countless times before as he knew she was simply staring at his mug, "Wanna try some?"

Not even bothering to check to see the coy nod he already knew was happening, he smiled as he took the mug and handed it to her... watching as she drew it ever closer to her lips.

One of his favorite parts of _this_ particular loop? Watching her pupils adorably dilating in a way only a kitten's eyes could as soon as the caffeine settled in her palate, a small lurch of her slender body preceding a frankly hilarious spastic twitching from both her cat ears.

So yes, Jaune wasn't about to hold back on the few things he truly enjoyed in life anymore aside from his precious Coffee-chan... therefore, he literally LOLed at Blake's reaction.

As they both stood soon after, Blake finally letting a small smile break onto her lips - after delivering a satisfactory punch to the blonde's arm with caffeine-enhanced clone speed that even surprised herself - she watched her companion pay for their drinks before speaking up to get his attention, "You know, you really _are_ different... I'd never heard anyone speak the way you do after I left the Fang. Where they always assumed the worst in them, you only ever assume the complete opposite... and even when they're people like the Fang, you're willing to give them a chance..."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Jaune noted softly as his hand remained on the table, his gaze not quite meeting hers, "I'd have lost myself a long time ago in this loop if you weren't..."

But for the first time, Jaune's expression softened as if realizing something before he continued, "Anyway, I meant to ask, and I actually can't believe it took me so long to think of it... but where _were_ you hiding all afternoon?"

"Oh? And the great _Tracer_ couldn't figure that out himself?" Blake retorted with a challenging smirk, to which Jaune chuckled with an easy-going smile.

"I knew the general area where you were. Trail and error is what it took to figure it out mostly, but that's because I wanted to respect the time you needed to be alone," he noted with what was admittedly a half truth - after all, with all the time he had, he easily could've triangulated her position, but didn't because of the point he'd just given and his increasingly evident need to buy every second he could to train, "I guess in the end, I just hoped more than anything that you'd approach me first. And I'm glad you did..."

At that, a rare warm smile grew on the girl's lips, added on with a fluttering sensation from within as she realized the supposedly unflappable Jaune had seemed to be caught by surprise by her gesture as well before she noted quietly, "Well... after everything you've done for me in the past hour, I don't think my past self would mind spending some time with you... I-I mean, for what it's worth in hindsight... But I stayed in the very same pub I was kicked out of earlier. By the time I left, the bartender there had just traded shifts with the second shift bartender... all I had to do was go in and sit to watch you train like a swordfighting film set on repeat, and no one was the wiser. None of you would've thought to look there."

But Jaune didn't seem to mind what seemed to the kuudere across from him as a very awkward admission, his eyes instead brightening with the thought of her confession and subsequent reveal, "Ya don't say! Well uh... if it ever comes up again, I'll keep it in mind!"

Cocking a brow at the statement, Blake nodded and followed his lead out of the café as her mind drifted back to his previous words in their conversation. A man who was willing to look for the best in others, even Faunus, at the risk of losing himself if he didn't was a rare thing indeed... but her brows furrowed for a second - just a second - as something he'd said at that time happened to stand out.

 _I'd have lost myself... in 'this' loop?_

But she shook off the thought, willing to trust as they headed towards the docks that he knew what he was doing...

Willing to trust as he held her back from attacking that spiteful human ordering around her ex-brethren when they arrived that he knew what he was doing...

Willing to trust as he held out his hand for her bow as they stood in front of the med-Dust container that he knew what he was doing...

"You trust me?"

Blake smirked under the wavy locks of obsidian tresses obscuring most of her face as she realized how coincidental it was that he was asking that right now considering her thoughts on the matter. In fact, under better circumstances, she might've even gone out of her way to embrace him - as uncharacteristic of her as it may be - just to show him how much she appreciated what he'd done for her... but then again, it'd just been one conversation. It wasn't easy for her to open up; but as luck would have it, she'd run into a tracer willing to do the legwork for her in breaking through her impassive persona. Granted, she didn't expect him to see through her emotional defenses so easily, but the way he acted... the way he related... yes, she could trust him.

So she contented herself with simply placing the bow into his waiting hand.

"Do you trust me?" he repeated benevolently.

A reluctant but definite nod from the ravenette.

Jaune smiled. Smiled, because she didn't always nod.

It was almost funny... though he would try and keep the loops as identical to the vanguard loop when he first spoke to her - seeing that it went so well up until... well... he got stabbed through the stomach by the cutest psychopath he'd ever met - the smallest divergence or misstep after that could make Blake react in the most unexpected ways. And after so many loops, he decided in light of her unique disposition that it'd be better to try and shorten the exchange between them like he'd done once with Ozpin.

Didn't work.

It took a few dozen loops to realize that in this case... a considerable length of time _was_ needed for Blake to react favorably. She needed to be cared for... and he needed to put in the effort... two things that could only be done over time. Besides, it wasn't like he was in a rush... this was by far the greatest trial he'd had to endure, _many_ times worse than initiation. So he'd decided to at least keep things organic between them, covering the most important points when he could... then getting as far as he could at the docks... getting killed, usually in very gruesome ways... and then repeating.

It'd gotten to the point that he actually had to use a loop every few dozen loops or so just to _sleep_ in order to rest his mind... he'd even had this weirdo dream one time where people he knew came together to fight this giant groundhog Grimm thing along with people he wasn't sure he'd ever met... or had yet to meet. It was pretty fuzzy after he woke up; the only thing that stayed fresh in his mind from it was the shawarma. He'd really have to check that place out if it were a real restaurant in Vale.

Ah, well. Anyway, it was time to respond now...

"Good, cuz that's my lucky hoodie you're currently wearing and I've had it since initiation," Jaune recited from memory, Blake ticking her head in that sign of curiosity at his smile. She had good reason... maybe this was one of the loops she realized he was putting on his mask again? No time to dwell on it, though; might as well continue, "Now, I'll need you to use your Semblance and scare the living tar out of them. And I mean seriously _freak them out_ before picking them off one by one. I'll take care of the rest - and be sure to leave the last one around here to me. Got it?"

Jaune quelled a sigh of relief when after a moment of deliberation, she shook off her curiosity as his plan finally clicked in her mind, a dark smile falling over Blake's countenance as she got in character and slowly let her hair fall to cover her entire face once more.

No matter how many times she did that... it never ceased to weird him out. Her single mere action getting Jaune to do little more than give her an unsettled smile and thumbs up before closing the door behind them, he took a deep breath before heading straight to the back of the container.

She really was _that_ good at being creepy.

But despite himself, Jaune smiled while listening to her scaring the living owl pellets, sod, or whatever other forms of faunal defecation there was on record out of the mooks surrounding them... he realized that the time and loops he'd spent getting to know her had led to some pretty good things, after all. Though his body was rested whenever he looped, he'd had to resort to finding ways to energize his mind - so he'd kept the waiter at the table a little longer learning about different and stronger coffee blends. Vecchian Blonde Roast... Atlesian House Roast... Mistrali Dark roast... he'd tried them all. Keeping the poor guy held up for so long did indeed lead to his learning of the butterfly effect he was causing by doing so - that customer whose name he could never pronounce freaking out, preceding Carmelle's call, and the waiter's slip up of the greatest brew Jaune could ever imagine existed. It was only a matter of getting the waiter to spill the beans... hehe, puns.

Jaune sighed; he couldn't believe it, but he actually kinda missed his fellow blonde brawler.

But guessing his way to a cup of Death Wish coffee was 47 loops well spent!

With a grin on his face, Jaune psyched himself back up for what was to come as he doused himself with the Dark Dust, stepping out towards the central container and attacking the Faunus from above.

He was a hyena-Faunus. His name was Banzai. He'd taken a few loops here and there to figure it out just so he could _really_ get into his head...

But meh, the henchman screamed the same way every time.

The same toss, the same mooks blasted away into lala-land around Roman - _oh good, Blake's here, right on time_ \- and the same stupid monologue from the cigar-puffing idiot. He'd considered saving some Dust to blast Roman first, but it only ended in that psycho girl attacking Blake first in retaliation.

Her name was Neo or something...

Speaking of which...

"Ooh, _very_ poor choice of words. See, as I was saying, you have my word that it won't happen again since I've been given the cease and desist on your murder... _Buuuuuuut~_ "

 _ **CLANG**_

The clash of metal resounded through the docks, echoing between the multitude of containers as Blake and Roman noted the thin chokuto Jaune had suddenly parried out of thin air using Crocea Mors with a quick sidestep. Not to mention the shocked multi-colored girl holding it.

" _Huh_ ," Roman concluded with narrowed eyes and a puff of his cigar, "Didn't see _that_ coming."

"Aw. You mean that's all I get? I'd have thought you had another Oum-awful soliloquy planned out for me..."

Gah. Darn it, spending time with Blake was making him use big words.

Roman grimaced at the kid before taking a final puff and flicking the cigar, Blake turning to see Jaune's attacker gone all of a sudden. Maybe she was a speedster like Ruby?

"Oh, it wasn't really gonna be all that," Roman countered easily enough from where he stood, "Just me admitting that you're either pretty quick or pretty lucky. But either way... today's the day your _luck runs out_."

Jaune took the threat in stride, expanding his shield as he held out his blade and dropped to combat stance, "Don't hold your breath. See, there's one thing you haven't learned about me yet..."

 ** _SHHCLANGCLANGCLANG_**

And just like that, the girl reappeared, once again trying to attack from Jaune's blindspot but failing as the blonde deflected three strikes before intercepting her leap through the air to shield-bash her towards Roman's feet.

"...I make my _own_ luck."

Blake had been watching Roman to see if he were going to make a move, and had barely seen the girl coming the second time. It was like she was coming from out of nowhere! Yet even then, Jaune had handled it without even turning back to see her coming, his gaze set on Roman's glare even as the girl flipped through the air to make a three-point landing at Roman's feet. But as Blake stepped forward, thus ending their little standoff, Roman raised a hand towards her with a small smirk.

"Now now, I _know_ I implied earlier that I'd taken a different route than calling for backup in numbers... but c'mon. Your buddy's a _Tracer_. You really think I wouldn't?"

And at that very moment, a roaring mob of White Fang soldiers erupted from between a nearby pair of containers, Blake being the only one between the mass of Faunus and the trio in the clearing. She had time only to spare Jaune a concerned glare before he pointed at her with his sword.

"I'll handle these two; you take care of them! I _know_ you can do it... so give 'em hell."

After seeing Roman's underhanded methods and her prior organization's willingness to work with such filth of the world... Blake made her decision. Adam's very own contradiction in his beliefs against the humans by being willing to barter with the worst of them sealed it. She would do what needed to be done.

"Aw, did you see that Neo?" Roman noted with a cooing tone at the pair, "He even put aside a moment to give her a pep- oh look, I guess we're starting!"

Roman grinned, cutting his own observation short as Blake sped towards the mooks and Jaune dashed towards the criminal duo with unexpected speed. Neo grinned as well, glad to have met a decent fighter as she engaged Jaune first and found him deflecting her blows swimmingly as she leapt around and over him. His sword seemed to follow her even when his eyes didn't, but Neo was a master at exploiting weaknesses... and that stupid star-studded shield was _literally_ a big one...

"My my, _Tracer_ ," Roman noted with a raised brow and a smirk, knowing that Neo was still just testing him out after dodging her initial assault and was nowhere near going all out on him, "I've never seen anyone go up against Neo and stay alive for so long... _and_ in one piece!"

"Heh, aren't you gonna join, then?" the knight taunted as he had to lean back just enough to avoid the chokuto slash at his neck that probably came close enough for him to postpone that weekly shave for a while, flipping his blade into a reverse grip to then parry the multitude of slashes from the smirking mute, "Because I'd honestly hate to see what might happen to Neo if Blake joins in before you do!"

"I wouldn't be too worried about that; you were right in giving her the better end of the deal by pitting her against the soldiers... almost as useless as Junior's guys, if you ask me... but that's still a pretty tall cat tree for Kitty there to climb..."

At this point, there were a few things Jaune _knew_. Jaune knew Neo wasn't going all out on him. Jaune knew Roman was currently gauging Blake's threat level - which judging by the fact that he knew she was whittling down what he counted over time to amount to 42 men, was pretty darn high. And Jaune knew what was coming...

So he had to time this next dodge _perfectly_.

"Maybe I should just mosey on over there to take her mys-"

Jaune shifted his head just a little to the left at the last possible second-

 ** _BLAM!_**

-to dodge the bullet aimed at the back of his skull from point-blank range that the assassin didn't think he'd see coming.

It grazed his ear this time, nicking the cartilage and likely drawing a trickle of blood. But it'd heal; he'd worked with worse in prior loops.

"-elf-FFYEOW! _NEO!_ " Roman shouted as the Aura-piercing bullet shredded through his coat and tore through his right arm. Jaune knew it was just a flesh wound that'd heal after an hour or so, but it was paramount for his survival for what would happen after he finished whining, "Who taught you to _shoot!?_ JEEZ!"

"BOOYAH!" Jaune suddenly cried out with a wide grin, knife-handing both blade and shield towards his crotch in the universal 'Suck It' gesture in Neo's brief moment of shock, " _What!_ You didn't realize that _Jaune_ MOTHER-GRIMMING _Arc_ wouldn't know you were a _teleporter!?_ Roman _you USELESS metrosexual_ , GIVE me a DECENT _fight!_ "

His grimace of pain immediately disappearing, Roman stared at Jaune for a full second with a twitch in his eye before loading his cane with a Dust round shotgun-style.

"Oh _hell_ no."

Meanwhile, Blake continued whittling down the men in her area, actually glad that the idiots had decided that bottle-necking themselves by coming out through the _same_ opening was actually a _good_ idea. Hadn't any of them read the world-renowned novel _'300'_ about the Mistrali Spartans who saved Haven by making their enemies do the _exact same thing?_

 _Idiots_.

Her shadows took the brunt of the strikes as always, and Blake was actually quite grateful that the abundance of black garb was making her very hard to track even for the standards of Faunus vision. The contrast of her wispy darkness against the bright dock lights in the evening hours wreaked havoc on their eyesight... disadvantages she exploited to the fullest.

After downing what she assumed was the fortieth soldier or so, Blake decided to turn and finally see how Jaune was faring-

"Blake, LOOK OUT!"

-only to see his shield whizzing by her face to cave in the mask of the final soldier behind her as he was in mid-swing. But it wasn't enough, the Faunus' broadsword coming down and clipping just enough through her Aura to deliver a slash through her side. Blake went down with a pained yelp even as her attacker went down with the point of Jaune's shield in his face... likely dead.

Jaune knew his throw wouldn't be enough. He didn't like it, but it was the only way they both got out of this alive. He would know... it'd taken over 200 loops just to get to this part.

But what he liked even _less_ was what he knew was coming next...

Namely, Neo's pristine deflection of his blade so that she could introduce the left side of her boot with the right side of his face, forcing his head to turn just enough to see the Dust round that Roman somehow _hooked_ on the end of his cane to bash Jaune in the face with an explosion of fiery energy and send him flying towards the mass of downed soldiers.

Didn't matter if he was an Aura-monger when he focused himself enough, _screw_ the moron who dared say getting an exploding cane bash-kick combo to the face wouldn't take out a huge chunk of his Aura.

The only plus out of this was the fact that whenever he got this far, he'd always land conveniently close to his downed friend.

" _Balls_ that hurt..."

"Jaune-" Blake began, only to be cut off as Jaune - somehow mostly fine - quickly did a pop up and reached his hand out to her.

No... it wasn't to impress her. It was because there was literally _no time to lose_.

It'd taken seventeen loops just to realize that alone and ditch the half-baked remark of assurance he'd thought up initially. Blake was a smart girl, and visual proof worked much better with her than words.

It'd taken thirty-eight more loops to realize that running back in towards the action wasn't an option - surely, Roman and Neo had realized that both students were still alive already.

It'd taken six loops after that to realize he was spending way too much time thinking about what to do next.

And finally, another fifty-five loops to condense what he needed to say in order to get the point about _what_ he was about to do next across to her.

"Blade."

A half-second pause from the catgirl. Jaune took most of that half second to berate himself at how it took twenty-four of those fifty-five loops just to pick the right word to snap her out of it.

" _Blade!_ "

Immediately twitching in response, Blake automatically handed her katana side of Gambol to the blonde as he picked up the blade from Crocea Mors, turning to her after casting a wary glare at the two criminal's who'd just noticed him standing before speaking in as hurried a clear tone as he could manage, "Okay. You. Need to heal. Stay here and count to four-hundred eighty-nine-"

"Four-hundred eigh-"

" _Four-hundred eighty-nine!_ " he cut in quickly, "Not a second more, _and not a second less!_ "

"But, when do I start coun-"

But before she could finish, Jaune's entire body twitched in a single motion, Blake's blade in his left taking the fore of the double-bladed slash while his own blade trailed behind in his right. She didn't realize in the first millisecond why se did so until-

 ** _CLANG_**

A chokuto stab coming right at her from from the girl who unbelievably appeared out thin air was deflected by Crocea Mors-

 ** _CLANG_**

-the _same_ chokuto and girl reappeared in front of Jaune in an attempt to stab him, only to be deflected by Gambol-

 ** _CLASH!_**

-and then both blades came barreling down on the assassin whose eyes both went white for the briefest of moments at the blades dcoming down too fast to block before she teleported back to Roman's side.

 _Teleported_.

She was a _teleporter!_

" _Now_. Use the shield when you're done - you'll need it."

And with that, Jaune dashed forward to the duo in the center of the dock area with a blast of Aura she didn't even know he could still manage before taking on both criminals _alone_.

Her sight granted her a very clear view of what was happening, even the expression on Jaune's face as scowl turned to grimace just before he really kicked in his sword skills to high gear. With unpredictable twirls and slashes, Jaune kept his eye trained on Neo with Blake's lighter blade against the assassin's chokuto while fending off Roman from the other side with Crocea Mors. As seconds turned to minutes, Jaune seemed to anticipate every attack, even ducking just enough out of the way to dodge Roman's bullet from behind or Neo's bullet from ahead until Blake all but gasped at what she saw next.

It took all of her willpower not to enter the fray right then and there when Neo teleported once more to land a kick on Jaune's face only to disappear the next second, but Blake's self-control was rewarded when she caught the smirk on Jaune's face - right before he whipped Gambol above and over himself with a kick flip to simultaneously bash Roman away before bringing the lighter blade down right where Neo reappeared almost too fast for her to block.

And that's where the _real_ fight began...

With her mouth open as if to let out a soundless yell, Neo began flitting in and out of the visible spectrum all around Jaune... and to the catgirl's utter shock, he simply twirled each blade in and out of reverse grip with the multiple defensive slashes all around himself to counter her, ducking as he spun to cover his back against an overhead slash and subsequent downwards stab, spinning both swords in tandem left and right to parry the enraged assassin's flurry of stabs coming in from his sides in flashes of white, and even holding his ground as Roman yet again entered the fight to tip the odds against Jaune.

Still, she had yet to count to three hundred...

But in the seconds that followed, any lingering concern began falling away as she watched him seemingly speeding up. Every pivot, slash, parry, lunge, all seemingly sped up as a dim white glow began emanating from the knight. It took her a moment to realize it was his Aura, misting off of him like smoke from dry ice with the copious amounts of energy he spent against the likes of Roman while simultaneously blocking the storm of attacks from every direction from the girl still teleporting around him.

It was... in a word... _beautiful_. This Tracer was the most skilled swordfighter she'd ever _seen_... and that without his shield as his primary weapon!

But now with her mind on the shield, Blake stood up, content enough with the current state of her wound's healing to cautiously step over to where his shield lay. Taking it out of the man's face it was lodged in with a stomach-souring squelch, Blake walked back to pick up her sheath and readied herself to join the fight.

"Four-hundred forty-seven, four-hundred forty-eight..."

Blake looked down as the count continued in her mind, a slight wince at the seemingly unwieldy combination of weapons Jaune had left her with. What was she supposed to do with these things?

"Four-hundred fifty-one, four-hundred fifty-two..."

Not to mention the fact that the shield was so heavy... but it did provide almost complete coverage for her body. Wait... and the sheath was strong enough to deflect most blade attacks as well...

Blake's eyes widened in realization as she looked up towards the fight. Of course Jaune didn't expect her to go up against Roman - having had the chance to watch him fight, she knew full well that his brutal technique would've overpowered her in seconds. Unable to turn her eyes away, Blake's sights were riveted on the fight even as Neo made what looked like a last-ditch effort to down their opponent - making dozens of apparitions of herself and Roman appear around Jaune to converge on him at one.

But he held his ground... making a smug grin come to Blake's face when she watched him expertly switch Gambol's blade into gun mode and shoot at the right Neo on the first try to make the multitude of opponents shatter around him like glass, turning to block Neo's next attack with Crocea Mors while switching Gambol back to blade mode to continue holding them both off after switching back into the defensive.

No, Jaune didn't want her going up against Roman... but he'd given her defensive weapons to provide the greatest coverage possible while _he_ fended off the assassin's otherwise impossible multitude of attacks... just to tire her out.

"Jaune... you're a genius..."

His reaction speed, his movements, his concentration... she couldn't even believe what she was witnessing... and add to that his planning for such an outcome so far ahead!?

It was... it was...

She suddenly narrowed her eyes as she noticed his footwork and patterns of blade swings that by now could barely be tracked even with her eyesight.

It was _familiar_.

Sped up several times more than what she was sure she'd seen before, but there was no longer time to think about it as she began to sprint towards Neo's form.

She'd just have to continue trusting that he knew what he was doing. Because _apparently_...

"Four-hundred eighty- _nine!_ " Blake cried out as she leapt in the air before coming down on the unsuspecting assassin who barely had the chance to teleport away.

This left Blake and Jaune back-to-back with Neo and Roman at either side respectively. Blake... had to admit it...

She was afraid.

Unlike Jaune, who seemed to know where she was going even before she got there, Blake had no such skill... maybe Neo had a tell, like something to show where she'd reappear, but there was no way to know - watching her fight for over eight minutes didn't help, either. But if this were the day she was to die, she'd be happy to know that it was in an effort to truly make the world a better place with a partner at her back who truly held the same hopes as she.

So gripping Jaune's shield and Gambol's sheath tightly, the ravenette took a deep breath to face the teleporter, come what-

"Don't be so dramatic. She's out," Jaune whispered from behind even as he too took a deep breath before charging Roman.

Blake's eyes widened in realization as she noticed Neo try to teleport, only for the girl's face to grimace as her body could barely make itself faze out of sight like a camera lens trying to focus on its target.

 _Jaune... you're a **genius**..._

And now, it was time to give this fiend a taste of her own medicine.

Both Blake's and Jaune's yells occurred in unison before they fell on their opponents, Neo's eyes going wide with the realization of the gravity of her predicament when Blake landed between a multitude of shadow-clones. Blake relished in how Neo's eyes began widening now but with panic as she ensured to punish her for each and every mistake with that cursed chokuto.

Of course, Neo made every slice and stab count - a cloned dismembered or decapitated at the very least, and a cling of metal on a real shield or Gambol's sheath at the very best - but Blake returned every missed blow for a very real and painful one even as the girl tried to flip or dodge out of the way. Neo was good, but she was exhausted... and Blake was not.

But before they could re-engage, a final blast caused them both to have to dodge a stacked container falling down towards their spot, separating them well enough for them to turn and see Jaune - having flicked Roman's cane aside with Gambol in reverse-grip - deliver a standing kick to the criminal from close range with enough force for both Blake and Neo to hear the cracking ribs from a distance.

Jaune walked towards Roman who was laid out on the ground on his back, not even flinching when Roman raised his cane at him only for it to deliver a string of bulletless _clicks_.

The knight took a deep breath to calm himself as he stopped just feet away from the master thief... after successfully blocking that last blast for the first time, this was as far as he'd gotten.

"That last one was your thirty-sixth round, Roman. You're out," Jaune began, his steely expression in complete contrast to Roman's expression of the purest rage, the criminal letting out such a feral yell at the knight in his fury that even a few drops of blood flew out. But Jaune continued, his dead-eyed glare as impassive as ever, "And you fallen terribly... _hilariously_... under par. Consider this payback..."

Jaune paused only to drop Gambol's blade and lift Crocea Mors up with both hands on its hilt, the blade pointed over the immobilized villain's body. He'd died dozens... no, _hundreds_... of times because he showed just an iota of hesitation, an iota of _decency_ , at taking a life.

 _Never again_.

"For the hundreds of lives you've ended in just one night," Jaune concluded, Roman's eyes slowly going wide as he saw a look in the knight's eyes that reflected the killing intent within, "I'll be content with ending _yours_."

" _N-NEO!_ "

And before he could thrust down, a flash from behind from what was surely the assassin's final effort at teleportation preceded a powerful double-legged kick what sent Jaune skidding away, Neo taking Gambol's blade from where she'd hand-planted to deliver the blow to flick it up a fling it like a spear in one fluid motion to impale the knight where he stood.

As Jaune fell to his knees, a small torrent of lifeblood running down his torso and staining his white tee red, he felt a knot at his throat forming at the sight of Blake wailing his name in despair...

How many times had he seen it already?

How many more?

He'd fallen to the side now, his head meeting blood-stained asphalt he couldn't feel was hot or cold anymore. But then he saw it.

He blinked a final time, just to be sure it was there... and it was. A flash of red over the roof of the nearby dock building.

All this time... all this work... finally on the cusp of paying off.

He couldn't help a smile with his final breath, "Just... one more... loop..."

 _Just... one... mor-_

* * *

 **A/N:** _ **Nuuuuuuuuuu!** Phantom you old sponge with hair hanging off it! You Traveling Wildbury! Y-You incorrigible Eskimo pie with a caramel ribbon!_

 _I'm not gonna lie. I wrote this chapter and even **I** hate myself for cutting it off here. _

_But do you, like, **see** the length of this chapter!? It's like, really long! Like, yeah!_

 _Like, I'm **totes** not a tween lost for words right now, okay!?_

 _But on the bright side... I've found a way to make the omake **canon** to **LDR** :)_

 _It really was fun to write, and since it had a full chapter all to itself, I really didn't want it to go to waste on something that wasn't even canon... so I thought about it... And thought about it..._

 _And thought about it..._

 _And suddenly realized, **holy crap this omake actually explains a lot about Jaune's semblance that I didn't even realize!** So I threaded it in in a way that makes sense... And that may just give an eagle-eyed few of you the hints you need to piece his REAL semblance together... **DUN DUN DUN**_

 _Anywho, I love you guys, you know that? Yes you, reading this under your bedsheets and thinking how creepy it is that I caught you doing that. And you, reading this story in the bathroom - whether you're actually doing the deed or not just to get yourself out of school/work/nagging family member conversations - I love you too._

 _And even **you**... Mr. Nobody, aka **YARN.**_

 _ **And if you're reading this YARN, I want you to know that I'm forever thankful that your awesome work (namely, Jaune Arc's Pain and Divergence) is what inspired me to pick up a keyboard and become a fanfic writer almost 18 months ago. U DA BOM!**_

 _Anywho again, I also mention these things because we've broken a lot of milestones since last (actual) chapter release:_

 _ **LDR** has surpassed **400 reviews, 800 likes, 1000 follows, and 87.5k views**... HOLY MOLY BATMAN, THE WORLD'S GOING CRAZY!_

 _And to top it off, over 500 of you have decided to follow my TPS profile to keep up with whatever craziness I write... so... as a thank you, I reveal the current standings of the Jaune Pairing Poll!_

1\. Jaune x Ruby ( _Lancaster_ ) ... **198** \- _16%_  
2\. Jaune x Blake ( _Knightshade_ ) ... **194** \- _15%_  
3\. Jaune x Pyrrha ( _Arkos_ ) ... **148** \- _12%_  
4\. Jaune x Neo (Banana Sundae?) ... **128** \- _10%_  
5\. Jaune x Yang ( _Dragonheart_ ) ... **122** \- _9%_  
6\. Jaune x Weiss ( _White_ _Knight_ ) ... **66** \- _5%_  
7\. Jaune x Cinder (SkyFall?) ... **56** \- _4%_  
8\. Jaune x Glynda (Stockholm?) ... **56** \- _4%_  
9\. Jaune x Winter (Whiter Knight?) ... **45** \- _3%_  
10\. Jaune x Raven (MoonBlood?) ... **45** \- _3%_  
11\. Jaune x Velvet (UnlimitedBladeWorks?) ... **37** \- _3%_  
12\. Jaune x Coco (Blonde Roast?) ... **33** \- _2%_  
13\. Jaune x Nora (Nora's Arc? ...hehe) ... **30** \- _2%_  
14\. Jaune x Summer (LOST?) ... **27** \- _2%_  
15\. Jaune x Penny (FriendShip?) ... **17** \- _1%_  
16\. Jaune x Miltia (Twiddle-Dee?) ... **11** \- _0%_  
17\. Jaune x Melanie (Twiddle-Dum?) ... **10** \- _0%_  
18\. Jaune x Emerald (Yellow Kryptonite?) ... **9** \- _0%_

 _And there you have it. Help a guy out with some ship names? Yeah I suck at them, just kinda went with what popped into my head first, y'know? And who knew? Lancaster is actually **beating** out Knightshade... well how 'bout that..._

 _ **Note:** Poll is still open on my profile page, so feel free to keep the votes coming!  
 **Note #2:** This poll does not in any way affect the pairing for **this** story anymore. It did for like the first 3 chapters, and then I made my decision (check LDR summary) and am sticking with it. This poll remains open so I can get a good idea on what to make the pairing for my **next** fic... and darn, looks like it's gonna be a **Lancaster** one :)_

 _But over **450** of you awesome readers voted up to this point, so I think we're onto something with the overall inclinations of the fandom! _

_Now that we've taken care of that, feel free to **Fave, Follow, and Review** to show your support for this story - I appreciate every one of you who do and every one of you who read it! And if you've read this far down, know that this baby's just getting started! Kudos to any of you who can figure out why I chose this chapter title, too ;) Till next time..._

 ** _And Happy Reading!_**

* * *

 **P.S -** _So on a totally unrelated note to anything written here (really, don't read ahead if you're not interested in me telling a story like an older fellow sharing stories on your grandpa's porch about something funny that happened to me recently):_

I'm a guy who likes to keep balance in life - and aside from my writing hobby, that includes work, family, friends... and intense MMA training.

I won't go into detail, but I'm glad to say that I have gotten to the point where I've actually punched a punching bag right off the chain.

Broken Bag #2 just happened to me the other day - I'm listening to my favorite playlist, getting in a groove, and with the final punch to a Tabata drill, _POW_ , chain breaks so loud that I can hear it over my music on full blast.

Mind you, I'm in a gym. A nice one. Surrounded by _people_.

I gulp, thinking about how much money they're about to charge me for this as I turn to go to the front desk when I see people around my station just staring at me.

And they start clapping.

Now, I don't consider myself a cool guy at all - seriously, **at all** \- so as I'm thinking of a cheesy Rocky Balboa or Captain America quote to eke out in embarrassment (seriously, I was about two seconds away from shouting _'Adriaaaaaannnn!'_ ), the guy that apparently heard the chain break from the front desk comes through and stops when he sees me.

He just shakes his head and goes, "Only _you_ would have something crazy dumb like this happen to you. Only you."

So I hang my head in shame while the peoples laugh at me.

But at the moment I finished my punch-out, my headphones were playing one song.

 ** _When It Falls_** _by Casey Lee Williams._

...

In other words...

 _Somehow, this is all Yang's fault._

* * *

 ** _2-14-2016 UPDATE_**

 ** _WHAT THE FLYING CROW!?_**

 _So ALL THAT FINALE was to pretty much pit All The Worlds Evils on Beacon while Ozpin was talking to Queen Daka of the Nightsister Clan since the first episode!?_

 _Dang... that was... tantamount in several aspects to both TGG and LDR... okay, then. That was a thing._

 _*takes deep breath, beginning to regain composure after just finishing finale*_

 _This is good... this is a good thing. Evil has a face, underlings, and a convenient alternate dimension. Equally convenient is the end game... for a certain fic of mine, that makes its ending that much more... palatable._

 _Indeed, this off season will be prime for story-weaving the rest of these three mains of mine. Like I've always said, your support is appreciated!_

 _TPS, signing out - for real this time..._

* * *

 ** _Live. Die. Repeat.  
_** _TPS (c) 2016_


	13. Anomalous Propagation, Pt 2

**-Post-Vanguard, Node 4, Range 5-7.5hrs, L. 639, eToD c. 23:31:30-  
 _c. 11:27pm_  
**

In... Out... In... Out...

Another inhale. Another motion. Another exhale. Another death avoided.

How long had he been fighting? Everything else felt so distant, as if even the very last moment were years ago. Yet the struggle for survival continued...

Would it always be that way?

In. Out.

Was it worth it?

Sounds remained muted, a turn and a flip followed by the voluntary release of... whichever weapon it was... to crouch down with a spin under an impossible flurry of metal and bullets, catching the weapon by the hilt barely a hands breath above the ground and carrying the centripetal momentum around in a perfect arc to land just another nick on the leg of...

He'd stopped bothering to think of the names of his assailants long ago. His motions were almost entirely muscle memory at this point, anyway.

One thing he'd learned for sure at this point; time was by _far_ more trustworthy than people. Of course, he was no closer to understanding its intricacies or repercussions in the long term, but when he moved to block a killing stroke... that's where the stroke came.

At least, that's how it felt. A strange and inferred reversal of causality devleoped by the trust he'd built with time itself - as long as he moved like he always did, time would do its part and his life would be spared again with another successful parry. Another last-second evasion.

Simple, forthright, sensible.

So much more different than the people in front of him with their convoluted motives, deceptive words, and palpable killing intent.

But, as much as the knight wanted to say he'd grown detached from such base emotions...

 _ksssshhh clang clang clack_

As much as he wanted to say that correcting the fate of Beacon lay in the hands of a virtuous, level-headed hero...

 _BLAM SHING THWOK CRACK POW_

"Four-hundred eighty- _nine!_ "

Jaune knew that the only thing driving him forward through all the fighting, all the pain...

"rrrrr _RRRR **RAAAARGH!**_ "

 _ **CRAKOWWW!**_

 _...Was the Fury of Hell itself_.

-Prologue End-

* * *

 **A/N:** _As loathe as I am to posting author's notes in the beginning of a chapter, I've taken the liberty to instead post it after that little prologue above to mark the halfway point in this fic, both figuratively and literally. Plot-wise, this serves to mark a turning point where understandings slowly become revelations. Does this mean that the tone of the rest of this work will become moody and dark? Not really. It just seemed nice to mark the halfway point with something like this. #achievementachieved_

 _Also, this note serves, due to some of the following content and themes of this chapter, to fulfill my due diligence as an author in disclaiming that **reader discretion is advised.**_

 _While I've regulated the explicit nature and profanity associated with some parts of the chapter in order to keep things rated T, I'm therefore aware that many of you will find the content inoffensive, if not tame. In which case, please feel free to skip this note and read on. However, even if the reading is T, our minds know no such boundaries; thus the heads up that some people might get triggered before the end of the chapter._

 _Including by this very note. People get triggered by plenty of things these days anyway, especially warnings that point out possible triggering ahead. Oh well._

 ** _Enjoy the chapter!_**

 ** _(and... hi.)_**

* * *

 _ **Anomalous Propagation, Pt. 2**_

* * *

Four pairs of eyes centered on their respective opponents. Four pairs of lungs screaming for air and a much needed reprieve for Aura to take care of the rest. But while only three were simply wishing for the end of all this to come soon, Jaune was weighing out options for the rest of his plan.

Blake was somewhat jarred by his last fit of anger, a yell he was pretty sure sounded not unlike an Ursa itself and hadn't done the last time, and he could practically sense her apprehension from behind him after she'd entered the fray to push Neo back and leave the Beacon students back to back against their assailants. Jaune would need to correct that promptly.

Because for the first time, he was no longer sure he could take another loop of this without falling apart.

"Don't be so dramatic. She's out," Jaune whispered to the ravenette behind him, having taken a deep breath to level the tone of his voice as much as possible in order to put her at ease. He then added to himself before charging at the first man he'd ever truly grown to _hate_ , "And it ends _here_."

Both Blake's and Jaune's yells occurred in unison before they fell on their opponents, Roman's scowl deepening with the realization of the gravity of their predicament and unleashing a volley of bullets on his opponent whose defense of dual spinning swords now seemed all but impenetrable... because once again, every bullet that seemed about to hit their target went blocked while the ones that weren't simply sailed wide without a second glance from him.

Was this the true power of a Tracer!? Something deep within the master thief's instincts were beginning to question the mounting inconsistencies, but such thoughts gave way to sheer frustration as he released his most powerful combinations of downward canestrikes with an infuriated yell, popping the cap of his cane and feinting a final strike in a reverse grip in hopes to end this insufferable nuisance once and for all by way of a surprise cheap shot.

Likely his last bullet, not that the brat would know.

 ** _BLAM! ...EeeeeeCRASH!_**

" _Keh_... hehe... ehehehaha... Ohhhh, Roman, Roman~"

Taking a step back with his jaw finally going slack at the realization that he'd just played the last trick of every play he had in his book, Roman watched a stacked container fall nearby due to the deflected bullet, unable to remember the last time a chuckle like that had left him chilled to his very core before receiving a standing kick from close range with enough force to hear his own Aura - and ribs - crack on impact.

Jaune leisurely walked towards Roman who was laid out on the ground on his back some distance away, not even flinching when Roman raised his cane at him only for it to deliver a string of bulletless _clicks_. The knight hadn't even slowed his advance before stopping as he finally stood over his opponent.

"That last one was your thirty-sixth round, Roman. You're out," Jaune began, suddenly pausing in thought for just the briefest moment as sheer unsatisfied fury within him cast away any need to stick to the timeline he'd set last, "Know what? Forget it."

Jaune then dropped Gambol's blade to the side, ready for the effect it could have this time and in effect planting it to lure his second victim when the time came. He'd died dozens... no, _hundreds_... of times because he showed just an iota of hesitation, an iota of _decency_ , at taking a life.

 _Never again_.

Lifting Crocea Mors up with both hands on its hilt, Roman's eyes slowly going wide as he saw a look in the knight's eyes that reflected the killing intent within, Jaune pointed the blade downward over the immobilized villain's body.

"I'm just gonna end you _now_."

" _N-NEO!_ "

And before he could thrust down, a flash from behind from what he knew was the assassin's final effort at teleportation preceded a swift sidestep and downward slash with Crocea Mors to parry the powerful double-legged kick that Jaune internally chided himself for when it didn't take her legs clean off like he wanted.

The frustration cost him, however, as it caused his reaction to be just a millisecond slow to block the follow up attack when Neo continued the momentum to take Gambol's blade from where she'd hand-planted to flip up from beside Roman and land in Jaune's blind spot behind him... before lunging forward with a silent yell.

 ** _ssshhlik_**

Jaune's growl was nothing less than _feral_ when instead of meeting steel, Gambol's blade went right through what was left of his Aura and impaled his upheld forearm right between the bones. The impromptu meat shield his arm provided had saved his life, catching the blade and angling it away from his torso and neck, but it was certainly a gory mess nonetheless. In any situation, such a satisfying sound would've had Neo grinning with sadistic elation.

What instead made her eyes go _white_ in the briefest moment of genuine fear, however, was the realization that the growl was due to the frustration at the fact that the sword he had at her neck hadn't pierced skin - and his subsequent action of voluntarily impaling his forearm _further_ onto Gambol's blade in order to close the space between them and press the blade against her throat with enough pressure to draw blood.

Jaune watched as Neo pushed back against him, letting go of Blake's weapon in her panicked haste to leap away from him which didn't go unnoticed by the knight. Feeling as if the very fire within him were reaching his eyes in sheer rage, Jaune continued to step forward with an ear-to-ear grin.

He _liked_ that she was afraid. _He **wanted** her to be_.

He watched his prey hesitate for another second in an almost awestruck state, the muted footsteps of what he was sure was Blake approaching them from the side, when the flicker of a few colors he was regarding in Neo's eyes each settled on pink. And in the second Jaune's confusion took hold on the transformation of his opponent's slack jaw into what almost looked like an awed open-mouthed... smile...?

"Nyargh!"

...the silent assassin nimbly leapt over Jaune's head, eliciting an agonized yelp from him at a sudden force nearly yanking his skull backwards with intense pain before he whipped himself around to see Neo already crouched next to the injured master thief behind him.

" _Hey!_ "

"...Ruby?"

But his momentary distraction at the crimsonette's appearance over a nearby rooftop, turning to see the reason for Blake's delay being due to the recovered White Fang soldiers which were returning in droves before following Ruby's pointed scythe back to the muted assailant over Roman, once again turned out to cost him.

With the visible sheen of pinkish Aura recoating the young swordswoman, Neo simply gave the increasingly furious blonde a wink before both criminals blipped out of existence and back onto a bulkhead lifting off behind a few crates in the distance.

"NooooOO _OO!_ "

With raging bloodshot eyes, the wounded knight sprinted at the spot where they'd been, tripping over himself and falling onto the pavement resulting in the infliction of multiple additional cuts and scrapes on his face and arms. He neither noticed nor felt any of it, turning up on his back and clenching both fists with enough force for his nails to draw more blood from his palms before roaring out at the top of his lungs.

"Jaune!" Ruby shouted again with eyes wide as saucers upon seeing her fellow leader writhing on the floor, her eyes going wide as saucers and apprehension increasing a hundredfold upon noticing the copious amounts of blood around him before incapacitating the remaining White Fang in her way and closing the remaining space between them with Semblance-enhanced speed, " _Ohmygosh JAUNE!_ "

But he was no longer present; unable to see through the red haze of livid fury clouding his sight, he continued yelling in rage that the blood on his hands hadn't claimed what was rightfully theirs - unsatisfied with breaking the man, knowing full well that the demand was for no less than his lifeblood and dying breath to be sputtered out that day.

It no longer mattered if Roman was or was not the orchestrator of the attack on the actual Tournament, the fact that he seemed vital to the plan was enough. He knew Ruby wouldn't have - _couldn't_ have, the idealistic young soul - been able to eliminate him there in the original timeline, but if it stood a chance in stalling or ruining future plans, then Jaune was no longer going to hesitate to do what needed doing.

Such was his anger marring his thoughts, such was his relentless wrath crying out with every ragged breath, that Jaune wasn't even aware of his surroundings - the strange redhead from before mowing down White Fang by the dozens; a strange ray of light seemingly cutting through entire bullheads shortly after - until said awareness was quite forcefully brought back to his conscious mind by a sudden sharp pain on his cheek.

"JAUNE ARC YOU SNAP OUT OF IT RIGHT NOW, YA HEAR ME!?"

The stars in his eyes quickly swirling away to reveal the absolutely horrified crimsonette's face above him, Jaune momentarily thought it was the lingering stinging tingle of the slap on his asphalt-shredded cheek before realizing that they were in fact the tears that had started streaming from her desperate silver eyes before falling onto his face. Though barely, it was at least enough to keep him from violently thrashing around anymore.

However, his anger unwilling to leave so quickly, Jaune meant to let his head and arms plop back onto the pavement but couldn't help wince a bit under the brief shot of pain that indicated that something was still not quite right with his shielding arm. Looking down, he could see that Blake's blade was still sticking through it as Ruby finished an impromptu tourniquet just under his elbow before she placed a hand on his chest and the side of his head with a warm flash of her aura.

Maybe it was the loss of blood, or maybe it was the top up removing what was left of the adrenaline racing through his system and exposing his entire body to dizzying pain, but as Jaune somewhat noticed what looked like the rest of their teams enter the dock areas, his protests and attempts to swat his fellow leader's hands away and prevent the change to his reset point could only come across as incoherent gargles and twitches of the fingers on his good hand.

"N-Noooo... don't..."

The pain and welling of exasperated tears of his own now clouding his vision, he could only sense the arrival of a second person who seemed to kneel down to bury their head into the crook of his neck on the side of his face that hadn't been torn up before hearing Ruby reply, "It'll be okay, this shouldn't take long."

"B... But I... h-haven't..."

Ruby briefly looked down at the knight below her, his marred face and clothes nearly hidden under the equally matted and frayed jet black hair splayed over him, in order to try and listen to whatever he was about to say. But Jaune could no longer finish, his body having reached its limit and his consciousness finally slipping away.

 _...Haven't ...killed him yet._

* * *

Eyes opened once more to see a metallic ceiling when an upwards lurch seemed to elicit a return to consciousness, a vague sense of movement indicating their owner was laid out on some airborne transport.

Jaune blinked, making no effort to move but only briefly picking out the voices of those nearby to make sure everyone who mattered was accounted for before surrending once more to the numb haze of emotions within.

"Several dozen White Fang members... and at least two armed bullhead transports," Pyrrha drawled aloud in the adjacent seating area along the rear end of the bullhead where the six other students of RWBY and (J)NPR were congregated, "Incredible."

"Honestly, I've never even heard of them setting up an operation that big before," Yang continued in thought, a silent sigh preceding Ruby's act of placing a hand on her shoulder understandingly.

She looked around, her gaze slowly passing over all six downtrodden faces before settling on the ravenette at the end of the group, "I know... but the important thing is that we were able to make it. If it weren't for us getting back on time and Penny's help too, things could've gone much worse..."

"Where did that mystery girl go anyway?" Nora began simply, Ruby about to reply with the admission that she'd no idea when a new voice immediately grasped their attention.

"How..." weak slender hands gripping their bullhead-provided trauma blanket before amber eyes rose to face the group, "How did you guys know where and when to find us?"

Blake's bow, retied over her faunus ears after having the ribbon returned to her upon reaching safety, almost seemed to wilt under the number of confused gazes she received in reply until her partner spoke up.

"Blake... _you_ did..."

Upon seeing the newly exposed catgirl's brows furrow in an equal measure of confusion, Ruby reached into a pocket and rummaged around until finding her scroll and pulling it out. A few swipes later, and it was in Blake's hands with a message she'd never sent on it's screen yet somehow nonetheless addressed from her own scroll number.

 _ **[-o-]**_

 _ **TO:** Ruby Rose  
_ _ **FROM:** Blake Belladonna  
_ _ **CC:** Weiss Schnee; Yang Xiao Long_

 _There's a lot I want to say right now but I don't even know where to begin. But right now I'm in trouble at the shipping docks and I need your help as soon as you can get another transport back into town... I was trying to look for answers but instead ran into a past I no longer want anything to do with. You'll know where to find me as soon as you reach the docks._

 _And to Weiss: Please come too. Please. And when you arrive, look around and please at the very least think about things. Things ain't always black and white, and I hope this is enough proof that we're on the same side. People forge their legacy with actions, and with the result of my actions you see when you get here I'd like to say how sorry I am for not having said anything sooner._

 ** _[-o-]_**

"This..." Blake began, emotions she long thought quashed threatening to break through the tear ducts in her eyes as she glanced at her icy-eyed teammate, "Weiss, I-"

"Apology accepted."

"But-"

"Ah-bah-bah-bah-bah! I don't want to hear it."

"But I didn't-!"

"Write it?" Ruby finished warmly, adding sheepishly with a small warm smirk, "Yeah, we kinda realized it not too long after..."

A few more knowing glances between the ravenette's teammates before Ruby provided helpful indicators with the other two following suit.

"...You've never sent a text with anything longer than an incomplete sentence before..."

Yang added with a well-meaning scoff, "You'd _never_ have come right out with asking for help like that."

A brief pause from the cross-armed heiress before the addition with a pointed glance, "The usage of the word _ain't_."

"And you couldn't have known that we'd already left to return to Beacon..."

" _And_ I'm pretty sure I've never heard you say the word _please_ before, KitKat... much less in writing. _Three times_."

"And 'people forge their legacy with actions'," Weiss echoed conclusively with the briefest of glances back towards the recovering Arc a few feet behind them, "Right out of the supposed Arc proverbs handbook, if you ask me."

The poor catgirl's internal gears by now working on overdrive as she too dared to briefly glance at the knight laid out several feet away in her internal attempts to ascertain just how and when he'd managed to pull that off, she confirmed that she'd been without her scroll all evening and finally tracked back its likely moment of loss to when she'd fallen over into the Valean port earlier that day.

It was only understandable to have lost it in the water at that point; after all, she _had_ just been knocked over unexpectedly and had to be carried out by... oh.

Her eyes widening in realization, her sight tracked back from the stretcher where Jaune was laid out along the inner hull to the medical table where his weapons and belongings were currently being kept... and sure enough, there she saw the tell-tale glint of a golden white scroll despite the fact that she was positive that she'd thrown his into the bay earlier as well.

But before she could get up, Blake noticed Ren already approaching the table which was between the seating area and the open area where Jaune lay before picking it up and sliding it open.

" _Property of Blake Belladonna_. Looks like he did indeed get a hold of your device."

He nodded at his fellow silent fighter, his similar line of deduction now having been proven correct.

Blake couldn't help but simply blink in passive stupefaction, the pointlessness of Jaune having taken her scroll without any apparent need and the _convenience_ it provided after she'd just so happened to do away with his scroll later in the day...

But with more pressing matters at hand, her sudden curiosity at the heiress' unconditional apology had her turning back to her teammate to make sure she hadn't just imagined things just now.

"Weiss," a pointed glance in acknowledgement from said teammate, "I... I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was with the-"

But silenced with an upheld hand from Weiss, the heiress merely looked down, shaking her head softly before looking back up at Blake with a reassuring smirk.

"Whether yours or not, the message did help me reframe my point of view on a few things," she began, letting her hand drop slowly before cocking a brow in question, "You said you're not one of them anymore, right?"

An emphatic reaction as Blake shook her head decisively, "No, I-I haven't been since I was younger and-"

"Then that's enough for me. I..." a light pause belying a brief twitch towards the knight before facing Blake with a sigh, "I know what it's like to want to distance yourself from your past... your perceived legacy. So I've decided, that I don't care."

"You don't care?"

"I don't care," the girl repeated with about as much warmth as any of those present had ever heard from her, at least before lightly pinching the bridge of her nose and then knife-handing in the ravenette's direction with a bit more of her usual icy tone, " _All_ I want to know is that the next time something this big comes up... you'll come to your teammates. And not some... well, I get the feeling the dunce didn't leave you much of a choice anyway."

A few chuckles resounding at the light jab at the recovering leader nearby, Blake could only shrug in affirmation with a small smile before Ren spoke up from beside the medical table that he'd yet to leave.

"Jaune?"

"Jaune's up?" Ruby began, Pyrrha and the rest making to stand as well when Miss Goodwich appeared from the other side of the stretcher from the cockpit area... only to almost unperceptively freeze at the sight of him.

"Aura levels already just above nine percent and climbing," Ren informed, reading the monitors beside the stretcher without having had the line of sight the cautions disciplinarian now had, "And without medical equipment nor Aura stimulants... _incredible_..."

"Yes indeed," the deputy now continued moving around the stretcher to nearly stand between the young man and remaining students coming towards him without her gaze leaving the young knight, "But Mister Arc still needs time to recover... we will leave you all to return to your dorms upon landing, after which I'll ensure to have the infirmary attend to his current state."

"But-"

" _No buts_ , Miss Rose," Glynda cut in, finally turning away from the injured knight to level Ruby with a sharpened glare before repeating to the remaining students with a tone which would almost have come across as pleading, "Children, please... return to your seats, as we are about to land shortly. We will inform you of his state as soon as we've ensured that he is... stable."

With the sudden lurch of the aircraft signaling the change of direction of its rotors and deployment of its landing gear having masked how the concerned deputy had trailed out on the last word, Glynda waited for the students to return to their seats and buckle up before turning to face the young knight just in time to see the passive glance he had on her a moment ago drifting back to the ceiling.

She'd felt her stomach sink when she'd seen those vacant cerulean eyes, and it still sunk further even now.

It had most certainly _not_ been the first time she'd seen a look like that, but those were the eyes of broken soldiers or hunters with minds and spirit irreparably shattered by conflict and war, men and women at least _twice_ this student's age, if not more. But _Jaune?_ He was but a child... a _child_... and the realization of the effects of such a Semblance began wrenching the wizened woman's heart in a way she was barely able to conceal as the aircraft landed and students filed back to the dorms.

The young man hadn't acknowledged any of them, his sight set on the ceiling with eyes that had seemingly lost a bit of their prior luster and remained vacant.

Eyes that remained vacant even as they landed near the infirmary.

Eyes that remained vacant even as the supposedly mangled knight unexpectedly stood up from his stretcher as the hull doors opened, eliciting an utterly shocked exclamation from the woman.

Eyes that remained vacant even as he collected his things and she followed him silently to Ozpin's office by his own tacit volition where he presented his report to the expressionless Headmaster himself.

"That was... _quite_ the tale, Mister Arc."

The Headmaster took the following moment to adjust his spectacles before steepling his hands in front of him on his desk and continuing, "Of course, Miss Belladonna's outstanding combat marks in her pre-admission exams despite the lack of... publically disclosed institutions for prior education... _did_ leave a few questions wanting for answers initially; however, it seems that any lingering concerns in the face of your report in regards to her allegiances can now safely be put aside."

"I'd say so."

A brief pause settling into the room with the two adults scrutinizing the young man as subtly as possible, Jaune simply blew a lock of hair out from in front of his eyes before continuing, "You two seem tense."

"I'd say so, Mister Arc," Ozpin echoed, letting out a controlled sigh as he shifted his weight back upon his seat before continuing thoughtfully, "Although... the one question that seems to remain after all this pertains to why you refrained from contacting the authorities - or ourselves - having had the foresight of keeping Miss Belladonna's scroll on hand for the precise motive of calling for aid."

" _Keh_ , aside from her major trust issues with all of the above?" Jaune retorted flatly, eyeing each Professor in turn with what almost came through as a scoff, "I'm pretty sure it's for the same reasons you two kept things hush-hush after the _first_ time around."

While the Headmaster keenly ascertained that the knight was likely referring to another timeline entirely, his deputy had yet to comprehend the finer nuances of this young man's Semblance and speech.

"To what are you referring, if I may ask?"

"Everyone's got their secrets," Jaune replied without missing a beat, blank eyes zeroing in on the woman again and inflicting the same pang of woeful sympathy within her as before, "If you guys just sat by and watched after all this happened, then it's obviously because in _your_ minds, _you_ think you're already handling things."

Ozpin merely hummed contemplatively in thought, knowing full well that within his desk at that very moment on an unmarked black tablet lay the most recent update from a trusted colleague investigating the incident - an update consisting of a harrowing message in itself.

 _Queen Has Pawns._

"Are we to take this as the reason you are not surprised at the lack of corrective action being taken against Miss Belladonna?"

"Man, _very little_ about your lack of reactions surprises me anymore."

"Mister Arc-!"

But Glynda's heated rebuttal stopped by her superior's subtle gesture of motioning his hand to her side placatingly, Jaune went on as if he were never interrupted in the first place.

"I mean, I'll admit, I still don't know what angle you're playing in all this," the knight continued, nodding his head in mock understanding as his tone finally began adopting more heat than his prior flat remarks, "But _come ON_... _obviously_ you know something big is happening, and here _I_ am, _prophet of doom_ , telling you that it's _gonna_ happen..."

An running his hand through his hair with an incredulous chuckle, Jaune simply motioned at the Headmaster emphatically where he sat before raising his voice for the first time, "So _really?_ You _really_ wanna be known as the man who did _nothing_ but _sit_ and _watch_ until it was too _LATE!?_ "

With Glynda having long been struck silent by the young man's impetuous demeanor and insolent words, even Ozpin set his jaw before standing with a kind of gaze at the knight that even left Jaune with a little less fire in him than before.

"You may have yet to learn that men forge their legacy with _actions_ , Mister Arc," Ozpin stated, a contained presence within seemingly threatening to leak out and causing his intended recipient to listen, "And I assure you, I vehemently refuse to let _inaction_ become the cornerstone of Beacon's demise. As much as I too would love to end this situation once and for all, we must remember that this may go beyond Vale. Beyond Beacon. And I believe you're rather aware of what we stand to lose if we risk the spread of panic so soon..."

A tense silence once again befell the room, a single twitch in Jaune's eye preceding a scowl and a wave of his hand in dismissal of the mental image in his mind he feared was another memory.

" _Bah._ Should've known we'd get nowhere like this. Not even gonna bother since it's not like I'm getting another crack at this anyway."

Jaune had made to turn and leave but instead shuffled back around to face the two adults and point at the red fabric tied around his now non-impaled arm, revealing it to be a shard torn from his fellow leader's hood, "We can thank Ruby for _that_."

No longer willing to take such an affront to a genuine act of goodwill, misplaced as it may apparently have been, in silence, Glynda now stepped forward with all the steel of Beacon's feared disciplinarian, "Mister _Arc_ , _that_ young woman risked life and limb to save your-"

"Life?" he finished with a knowing glance in her direction, "Don't make me laugh. My life isn't even worth the dirt on her boot, death-defying Semblance or not. It would've been a waste of her time if she'd been hurt and only ended up being a waste of _mine_ when it actually worked. _I didn't ask for her to keep me alive_."

"But she did, Jaune," Ozpin unexpectedly stepped in, his gaze softening at the sight of something altogether much more troubling in the student's eyes as he continued with genuine sympathy, "She _did_. Not simply due to sense of duty, bound as she may be. Nor due to simple camaraderie, amiable as she may be. Miss Rose acted out of pure altruistic concern for _your_ wellbeing... because she truly cares for _you_. You must understand that, and you _must_ be aware that you could've passed the same loop one thousand times and she would've willingly laid down her life for you in every. Single. One."

The two merely remained silent with locked gazes, Jaune's eyes bloodshot now for an entirely different reason than anger before merely turning to leave.

Glynda's eyes met Ozpin's for a moment, silently communicating the understanding of what she'd seen in the bullhead before the Headmaster nodded and turned to impart a few final words to the troubled student.

"Mister Arc, please never forget that no life is not worth fighting for... including yours. That is why we are here, after all," he began, Jaune beginning to walk towards the elevator as the Headmaster finished anyway, "For now, do try and rest and know that at the very least, there has been another good ending to an admittedly difficult day's work."

But no sooner had Ozpin uttered those last words when Jaune immediately froze stiff, Glynda being the first to notice the young man's tensed shoulders heaving up and down with increasingly labored breaths.

"Day... heh, haha... _Day_... A day...?"

 _*snort*_

 _"..._ pfft, _BAHAHAHA-!_ "

As terse chuckling became full out raucous laughter while the Headmaster and Deputy regarded the young knight who still had their back to them from halfway across the room, Glynda's instincts had her hand readying her trusty riding crop at her side at the nearly manic display.

"A _Day?_ This is... _kyeheh_... you think this is JUST A DAY FOR YOU!?"

 _ **KYAF-THWOKKKRNCH!**_

Glynda's instincts proving true, the young man's shield - which had just been expanded and hurled at them in one of the single fastest motions unaided by Aura she'd ever seen - was slowed in midair just enough to redirect its formidable momentum downwards, ending in the tip of the shield being embedded deep enough into the floor to stop a few gears underneath the transparent glass from spinning.

It was only then that a baffled deputy and much less baffled Headmaster noticed that on the expanded shield above two normal golden arcs were five stars, one of them gold... and four of them black.

"Ohoh, _yes yes_ , we can talk about 'good endings' and all if it's just one _day_ ," the frenzied student mocked, spitting out the last word as if it were venom before pointing the sword he'd somehow had time to pull out from his shield before slinging it at them at each of them from halfway across the room, "Well guess what?~ I was in there _for six! MONTHS!_ AND FOR WHAT! _FOR WHAT!?_ "

Jaune continued, Ozpin slightly reaching an arm out from where he was standing to hold Glynda back despite Jaune's advancing step for every few phrases. Despite the fact that as he continued, the skin on his face only grew redder and the vein on the side of his head pulsed faster in unbridled rage.

" _Apparently nothing,_ you know why!? Because that _psychopath_ is still out there, and because his _little psychopath friend_ is still _with him!_ " wiping the spit flying from his mouth with his damaged sleeve, he continued practically _snarling_ , "Oh well why isn't this a big deal, you may ask?~ Why isn't it a concern?~ Well _I'll tell you WHY!_ Because _neither_ of you knew what it was like dealing with them face to face! Neither of you had to deal with getting stabbed, slashed, dismembered limb by limb, beheaded, _shot_ , _burned_ , _crushed_ , _drowned_ , _drawn and quartered_ , _lynched_ , PULLED APART BY CABLES, DROPPED FROM FIVE HUNDRED FEET IN THE AIR, OR _EATEN ALIVE_ in enough different ways to fill up each day in a year, NOW _DID YOU?!_ "

Currently well past the spot where the shield was embedded in the ground, even Ozpin's hand now began inching towards his cane as the look in Jaune's eyes went from manic to borderline deranged, the young man taking a few ragged breaths that looked more like dry upheavals before continuing with cracked growls.

"And NEITHER of you... had to DEAL with... failing the person you _promised to protect IN THEIR FACE over_ , and _over_ , and _over, AGAIN! Or stood by bleeding out helplessly to watch them SUFFER THE SAME FATES YOU HAD HUNDREDS OF TIMES! Have you!? **HAVE YOU!?**_ "

And with that, Ozpin's countenance began to fall as the young man's Aura, weakened but still pulsing periodically around his body as if his physical shell were no longer enough to house the raging soul within, began warping his very voice... so much like another young man whose anger and grief he'd once failed to rehabilitate after the loss of a dear sister.

Which was why even though his hand was now tightly gripped around his cane, the wizened Headmaster restrained every instinct within to defuse the growing threat with force as he very well knew that stepping in at this point could twist this student and the rest of his natural life beyond all recognition with sheer hate, and well beyond repair at that.

" ** _NOO!_** " Jaune roared furiously, heedless of the consequences even as he finally stopped some feet away from the desk, well within range of either of his professor's attacks, "YOU'D _NEVER_ HAVE HAD TO WATCH HER DIE LIKE I DID, _MY_ NAME IN HER DYING BREATH, OR THE _AGONY_ IN HER EYES WHEN WE BOTH REALIZED I'D FAILED! THAT _I FAILED HER_ MORE TIMES THAN _ANYONE_ IN HER LIFE EVER HAD - CAN YOU EVEN **BEGIN** TO COMPREHEND THE _**CONCEPT** _ OF THAT? THE FACT I NOW HAVE TO LIVE WITH KNOWING THAT _FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!?_ "

Glynda visibly flinched when Jaune suddenly threw his sword aside, the metal violently clattering along the floor as it skidded away when both Professors realized that there were tears freely running down the boy's cheeks by this point even as he still considered _seething_.

" _Or comprehending the fact that I now get to sleep every night with **hundreds** of her dying moments etched into my mind forever, hm? Knowing I'd get to relive allll of that the next time I woke up in the same loop again, HM? And not even having the option of calling in backup because every combination, EVERY PERMUTATION, of ways I tried and people I called to join ended up in too any variables and at least one person dying because **I'm not strong enough** to keep them all safe... huh?_ "

"Or how about this," he began shakily after taking a deep breath, the visible trembling all around his body a clear sign to the elder fighters who were no strangers to post-combat disorders that the calmness in his voice was anything but, "How about, after realizing after every hundred loops or so, you mind just shuts off? Ya gotta sleep. And you do... right in the middle of the fight. Ya imagine... the _terror_ in her face, the second before it got blown off the first time that happened? I did."

Another tear ran down the knight's cheek, falling to the floor and adding to the trail of liquid pain leading from the middle of the room.

" _I did_... so ya try to choose a loop to sleep it off next time... and you do. Only to hear the news in the morning about some Faunus girl's body found floating in the docks that nobody even cares about adding a _description_ for cuz those _bastards_ are _racist pieces of sh-kkugh_ ," an audible crack in his voice cutting him of mid sentence, his head no longer rising to meet the adults' gazes while he was already long gone into reliving the tale aloud, " _I_ knew whose it was... and I found her, not even the guts to pull her out of the water anymore and swearing it wouldn't happen again... _swearing_ I'd finish this in time before having to use another loop to sleep. But I couldn't... I _couldn't_. Gotta sleep again... but this time I wake up in the middle of the night and make my way over as fast as I can hoping I wasn't too late..."

"And I _wasn't_... I wasn't too late... in fact, I was right on time to see _exactly_ what happened before she died," his weight no longer able to support him, Jaune finally fell to his knees with a heavy forbearance in his words, Ozpin slowly taking a seat himself and Glynda's jaw slowly going slack as they each caught on to where this was going, "I don't know _whose_ idea it was... it could've come from either of them honestly, but it was either his or hers, I know it... S-She'd been strung up by the ribbons of her own weapon, unable to _m-move_ or fight _back_ against what those grunts surrounding her started d-doing to her... d-dozens and _dozens_ of times until she damn well lost her mind..."

The briefest moment of silence filled the room with the stomach-curdling truths setting in, Jaune taking a few shaky breaths before regaining the strength to speak.

" _That girl died long before they killed her... and sat up right in front of her, paralyzed from the neck down and with a front row seat, **I was forced to watch the whole thing**_ ," Jaune growled, his gaze finally rising back up to meet the adults' with eyes renewed in vigor but now _screaming murder_ before he slammed his fist down with enough force to crack the glass and stop gears all around the floor and walls from spinning, " _ **NOW IMAGINE HAVING NO CHOICE BUT TO SLEEP THROUGH FOUR MORE LOOPS DOWN THE LINE KNOWING THEY'D DO THAT TO HER AGAIN EACH! TIME! BEFORE ENDING UP BEING FOUND DEAD IN THE WATER THE NEXT DAY!?**_"

Having to support herself on the desk beside her, it wasn't until she felt the soft, cold tap of something on her hand over the table keeping her standing that Glynda realized that she too had been shedding tears. But her motion to speak was only waved away by the broken young man as the first few whimpers escaped his throat and began once more with an utterly broken, weakened voice.

"S-Save your pity... at least you know, now... but to you it's still just a day... for _me_ , it's the day I now realize I've made more mistakes than any man, woman, or child on this _planet_..." motioning out the window toward the campus where his friends, present and future, would no doubt finally sleep soundly tonight, he continued with a trembling voice belying the mourning spirit within, "To _them_ , I'm their knight in shining armor... but for _me_ , all I'll now see are rivers of their own blood staining me down to my very _soul_..."

And trying but failing to swallow the knot in his throat, he motioned to where he imagined the ravenette might currently be on campus in the dorms, alive without ever knowing just how many times she had to die to be here again as tears rolled down and off his quivering chin onto the floor.

"T-To _her_... sh-sh-she'll only ever see someone she can count on, wh-who would never l-let her come to harm and help her finally esc-c-cape her past... but for _me_... I kn-know that all I'll _ever_ be is _nothing but a **FAAAAAAAAAAKE!**_ "

Rolling forward onto his hands and knees, Jaune completely gave way to wailing with loud broken sobs, repeating the final word over and over at the top of his lungs despite the spittle trailing from his mouth and nose intermingling with the tears that wouldn't stop running from his eyes.

This continued for nearly an hour.

Several times did Glynda's maternal instincts over her students nearly drive her to throw herself over the desk to console him, each time wordlessly held back by the Headmaster with her frustration increasingly mounting... until the final time, when she caught a hold of Ozpin's gaze. Aside from the frown which usually didn't accompany his composed expression, his face would've been otherwise neutral as always.

His _eyes_ , however... were for a lack of a better word, so very, very _old_. Speaking of a length of age within them which dawned on the Deputy to hold a level of sympathy and understanding here that even she couldn't comprehend, she resigned herself to reluctantly wait a while longer until the wailing slowly subsided... and the knight gradually, eventually, stood.

"I... I'd like to go to the infirmary now, please..."

Subtly taking something out from under the desk, the Headmaster rose along with his right-hand woman, a brief nod to her giving her permission to enter her fellow blonde's space - an action she then did by placing a hand on his shoulder while telekinetically calling forth his weapons and shifting them back together into sword-in-sheath form before handing it back to him with a gentle tone.

"Of course, Jaune... Lead the way."

Accepting the weapon from his combat professor, Jaune offered no resistance, fumbling around a bit and sullenly nodding without meeting her gaze as he replied, "Thanks... I probably look like crap as it is... wouldn't know how to face everyone right now... or what to do at all from this point, reall-"

But in turning back to face the Headmaster's desk, Jaune was momentarily startled when he turned to see the Headmaster himself right in front of him, further shocked when the man then did something he could never have imagined even in a million loops...

Pulling him into an embrace.

"Endure, Mister Arc," he began as the young knight sniffled and nearly unconsciously sunk himself further into the hug, Ozpin's eyes closing with the briefest of prayers to the gods hoping that something like the aural transfer of inner peace could be possible before continuing, " _Endure_. Even if the entire world would hate you for the choices you make, or made in a failed past... but that is the point of your gift. No matter how many of your mistakes or failings pile over you with the passage of entire generations, you have the ability _to keep moving forward_. Because unlike anyone else on Remnant, only you can make the choice that _no one else_ can make without compromise...

Lightly making space between them, similarly aged gazes met before the Headmaster patted his student's shoulder with a small smile.

"The right one."

Slowly, but surely, for the first time in what seemed like ages, Jaune reciprocated a small smile of his own and nodded before turning to leave towards the elevator, Glynda making to follow suit when a tap to her arm prompted her to turn and see the Headmaster holding out something in his hand for her to take.

"Sir?"

"Leave it in the infirmary beside his cot. He'll know what to do with it."

* * *

"Agh! Dammit. Dropped another one... Neo!"

The colorful assassin flitting into existence from the den-like second floor of the warehouse, she hobbled once or twice towards the nearby ash tray table before trudging over with a limp to her employer's side where he lay. Being careful to avoid the spindling arms of the medical android that was finishing up resetting his ribs, stitching up the skin above it, and speed healing the damage with potent aura stimulants that were illegal in at least 3 continents and all four kingdoms, she handed him the used cigar for him to light.

Pausing halfway through the motion to light it at the realization of said used nature, Roman glared at his new stay-in assistant which only elicited a small shrug from the girl before she blipped away to the nearby cooler to pull out some ice cream and once more to return to her upstairs makeshift apartment.

Roman followed her irregular trajectory with a nonplussed expression, giving up for the umpteenth time on picking out whatever tell that insufferable blond nutcase had obviously figured out with her teleportations. To make matters worse, it seemed that the appearance of the ice cream stash was the least of his worries with his new merc... whether or not the furniture was actually _hers_ before ending up in the warehouse, she seemed to make herself at home _much_ sooner than anticipated at the mention of a long job.

"Get the quiet ones, they said... those give you less headaches, they said..."

He simply hoped that Cinder wouldn't be planning any more surprise visits any time soon.

But with almost ill-timed coincidence, the scroll beside him began ringing until the master thief could reach over and grab it with a grunt before picking up and groaning out, "City Morgue... ugh."

 _"We've received the shipment... only half a bullhead? How very disappointing, Roman."_

Immediately straightening out and sitting up a bit as if the enchantress on the line were actually present, he quickly added, "Well Cinder! Hehe... I wasn't expecting to hear from you so soon..."

" _Your expectations are clearly not at the same level as ours, it seems... And here we were expecting... **more** from you_."

Roman couldn't help a small chuckle, hoping his nerves didn't show through before replying with his usual swagger, "Hey! You were the ones who suggested working with those stupid mutts from the White Fang... And don't even get me started on the _kid_ showing up again. We underestimated him."

" _Oh? And such a setback coming from just one little Tracer? Roman... I'm almost starting to feel that you may not be as useful for us as we'd hoped~_ "

" _I'm_ starting to feel that we may have something altogether different on our hands," Roman retorted, his grimace hidden under the free arm he was holding over his face as Neo's head popped out from over the railings above to listen in, "Not even _Tracing_ begins to explain half the stunts that little turd can pull off. It doesn't help that I have to leave something like _that_ alive... could bring more problems down the line."

The only reply initially came through as a sort of chortle taking on a much darker aspect before Cinder's voice came through, " _And you will continue to do so. While tonight was indeed quite the anomalous propagation of events for our operation, we have big plans for him... as well as for you, Roman. All we ask is... a little cooperation_."

With the phone line abruptly going dead, Roman simply mouthed the word _Yipee_ sarcastically as Neo chucked over an empty ice cream bin over the second floor railing towards a small wastebasket near the first floor kitchenette, the bin hitting the rim of the basket before plopping down on the floor with a dull thud. Peeking out from under his arm at the bin spilling what small amount of melted sticky contents it had onto the floor, the criminal grimaced and glared up to point angrily at his new partner in crime.

"I don't care _what_ she says, _their_ forte is apparently causing cataclysmic level events, but _mine_ is knowing when not to write a check your tush can't cash!" he declared with righteous fury backing the motifs that had kept him alive so long, almost idly wondering if his allegiances may have been altered should that moron Arc have had a dog in this fight to begin with, "Whatever happens, whatever we do - if you get a chance to gut the kid and make it look like an accident, _you do it_ , ya hear!? I don't care _how_ you do it or how _long_ you stretch it out for, I want you to _end him_... WITH EXTREME PREJUDICE!"

And finally swatting away the android that had finished working on him, the man fought back the pain from his creaking, recently healed ribs to sit up and light the used cigar, Neo herself rolling back onto her bed with pure elation at the news on the second floor. Her eyes flitting through various colors even without blinking and a wide open-mouthed grin to match, she then reached down - not into a pocket, but into the front of her pants - to pull out a lock of blonde hair.

Still bloodied at the tips from whence they'd been pulled, she brought it up to her nose to take a long whiff, her eyes nearly rolling in the back of her head with the oh so delicious stimulation as she began making plans of her own for this intriguing creature.

Lunatics, racists, murderers, rapists, sociopaths, psychopaths, she'd killed them all before, each admittedly insane, and each with a succulent flavor of The Crazy in their eyes that she loved to watch cloud over in death when she killed them. It just made her so... _happy_ ; naturally the reason why silence became her motif and eventual walk in life - words would only ruin the moment.

The eyes were the window into the soul, after all, and she liked to imagine waving at them as they left her victim's bodies.

But _Jaune?_ Well, in that night, the young woman realized he held something altogether different than Tracing indeed, something altogether much more _enthralling_ than all the wayward filth in Remnant combined.

She'd never forget the look of The Crazy in his eyes, and ohhh did he _have it_... so _pure_ , so _BOLD_...

There was no way she wasn't going to get her fix out of him at least one more time before she bathed herself in his lifeblood.

* * *

 _A few hours later_

There was inherent romanticism in the silence that reigned supreme throughout Beacon's ballroom. With grandiose archaic windows providing ample opportunity for the light of the full moon to shine into the spacious area, rays of moonlight would be scattered by the hundreds of crystals adorning the chandeliers, adorning the entire space in a sea of twinkling glimmers of silver light as if every individual ray mattered. It provided a fantastic experience to the eyes, a sensation only augmented further with the lack of sound altogether.

Which was why the lone knight couldn't help but wince as he heard the approaching bootsteps echoing through the marble floor... steps which by now he only knew _too well_.

"I'd have figured you'd be more of a rooftop kind of person."

"I'd have figured you'd be asleep."

Conceding the point with an idle nod and one-sided shrug, the ravenette took a seat a comfortable few feet away along the same wall that Jaune had set up shop against with a blanket on his legs. It was decent enough of a sign for her to note that he was evidently planning to stay there a while.

"Mhm," the young woman hummed in roundabout agreement with his words as she pulled out a book to place on her lap, an equally decent sign to the knight that she was prepared to stay there a while as well.

Jaune sighed, plopping his head back on the woodwork he had his back against as he realized that even this location's privacy to him alone was compromised. Of course he'd considered the rooftop, but with Ren having been there before already - not to mention Ruby - either team would be likely to check that spot, just filled to the brim with questions should they have found him. The same certainly went twofold for his other option of staying in the infirmary.

In either case, not something he felt he was ready to face right now...

Turning open her book, Blake idly flipped to a page, amber eyes flitting back and forth before settling on a corner which Jaune soon noticed with a small smirk was exactly what she'd done to keep him in her peripherals the first night they'd met.

"Funny how things come full circle, isn't it."

Cocking a brow at her in vague amusement despite the inherent inconsistency between this situation and the original timeline he'd once have lived without _any_ communication with this girl, Jaune merely shrugged, "Eh well, I'd beg to differ, but that's a long story I don't think I can get in-"

"Thank you."

Stuttering mid-sentence and crashing it to a halt at her sudden genuine show of appreciation, the knight turned awkwardly to face the girl who'd already turned herself completely to face him cross-legged and with book laid on her lap before he noticed the brief awkward moment finally registering to her in the form of her darkening cheeks under the moonlight.

"For earlier, I mean... thank you..."

"..."

"Er... I'm not... particularly good at gestures of appreciation... but-"

"Please," the knight began softly, holding out a hand to stop her lest the guilt he'd been working all evening to lock up break free again, "You don't have to..."

"I know. Which is why I won't."

"...ewhat?"

Blake glanced at him with an almost incredulous look, as if it should've been obvious for him to have figured that out already, before reiterating with a shake of her head and slight smirk as she turned her back to the wall again to scoot a little closer to him, "That's not what I'm here for... consider this a trade. Albeit one that I'm sure may not cover just how much you've done for me tonight, but better to pay a debt eventually than not at all."

"...ewhat?"

A light-hearted glare from the catgirl seated not more than a foot or two away from him before she chuckled and added, "Now you're just toying with me..."

"...Me toying with you would be offering you the other half of this trauma blanket I swiped from the bullhead now that your world has been flipped upside down," Jaune noted, picking up the few feet of excess blanket tucked at his side and letting it fall between them as he decided he might as well roll with this if it helped the young woman express herself, "You know, since you're _officially_ one of the good guys now."

Making a scandalized exclamation in surprise, Blake punched Jaune in the arm with a chortle and admittedly surprised him when she took him up on his offer, placing her book to the far side away from him in a huff and stretching out her legs before taking the other half of the blanket to cover herself.

Jaune couldn't help shaking his head with a chuckle of his own at how amicable the catgirl could become once she opened up a bit, settling down a bit and waiting for her to finish getting comfortable before continuing, "So... you wanted to repay me for helping you turn things around tonight with something you count as a trade of kinda the same value... what's on your mind?"

"See?" Blake pointed out, angling her face up so her knowing gaze met his before continuing, "I knew you'd figured it out already."

He rolled his eyes in a surprisingly Blake-like way at her assumption of his assumption, "Yeah, yeah..."

"But I saw you awake on the bullhead," she then began, what little mirth on his lips now slowly dying down, "Right after you'd opened your eyes, in fact. It might've been a little dark for everyone else at the time... but I have a bit of an advantage there..."

Jaune understood at that point as they turned their heads to face each other in earnest, now realizing the reason behind how her eyes managed to somehow keep glowing their usual shade of amber even in dim lighting such as in the current situation as it was at the moment.

"So... your question on the bullhead about how everyone figured out where we were," he began slowly, carefully, "...you already knew it was me all along?"

The catgirl replied with a noncommittal shrug, "After they arrived at the docks, I had my guesses. While I hadn't surmised the depth of your weirdly accurate sense of foresight at the time, I knew there really couldn't have been anyone else to alert them but you."

" _Hm_. Point taken."

"But the way you looked when I saw you on that bullhead, just staring upward even while everyone was speaking so fondly of you... reminded me of someone I knew," Blake continued softly, her gaze slowly drifting down to the space between them, "A long time ago."

Having learned her speech patterns - and thought process, for that matter - well enough to know to wait as she gathered her thoughts before interrupting, Jaune listened quietly until she continued.

"He... was like you, in a way... determined, fearless... known to jump into fights even _he_ knew he had little chance of winning..." a brief sigh from the young woman, "He was like a mentor to me... in my very early years, a lover of books who taught me to love them as well before I took a more... _active_ role... in the White Fang..."

She then looked up into Jaune's eyes, amber fire scouring neutral slate-like blue as she continued.

"The change in leadership hit him hard... he no longer shared the ideals of the cause he'd once taken a solemn oath to serve. Many nights I'd sit by where he lay, his blank eyes just glued to the ceiling... just like yours were today... just like they are _now_..."

Jaune then checked himself as the last phrase from the girl began wavering with suppressed emotion, breaking his gaze and beginning to mutter an apology when she cut in, "That's nothing to apologize for, Jaune. I realized what those eyes were long ago... the eyes of a prisoner, someone trapped... someone quickly losing hope of a way out..."

"...So what happened to him?" the knight allowed with a sigh, at least giving Blake the opportunity to be heard for the effort she was no doubt putting into this.

"He eventually left. Deserted. Maybe a year or so ago. Despite his privilege and high rank, access to resources, intel, and organizational secrets... he sought out the liberty of his conscience above selling out his tortured soul in exchange for conveniences long before I ever had the courage to do the same."

"Sounds like a happy ending."

"I wouldn't bet on it," Blake drawled contemplatively, gazing out one of the large windows in the ballroom towards the unknown, "With the operational intel he took with him, he's no doubt on several hit lists. A deserting intel officer would generate that kind of buzz, after all. So... by now he's either dead, or vacationing on some Vacuan beach right now."

"Maybe both."

Jaune slowly shook his head. He could understand where she was coming from, but couldn't quite agree that there were parallels between his metaphysical semblance that bent time and space and a physical _terrorist organization_ , "Blake, I don't think-"

"He wasn't trapped in the organization, if that's what you're thinking," Blake explained with a growing determination, "What robbed his sleep was the fact that he was stuck between two ideals - the one he'd followed before, and the one for justice... and what began to drain the life in his eyes... his very _soul_ , Jaune, was the realization that they were no longer one in the same..."

"But today you taught me that even if you couldn't hope to understand the plights of my whole race, you were willing to reach out and help me make the right choice for the good of not just one group of people, but for _everyone_. Even if that meant leaving behind what I once considered to be the very ideal that defined me, just like Tukson did... even if that meant forgiving myself for the sins I'd committed... _You_ taught me the value of that idea, Jaune... _You_ did..."

Jaune exhaled sharply to the side in a sort of polite scoff, shaking his head before retorting, "I was naïve-"

"You were _right_."

The following moment of silence was anything but awkward, the two teens leveling each other with withering gazes... and the first of which to break wasn't Blake's.

Her eyes narrowing at his, she then galvanized herself to drive her point home, "Jaune... I may not know what you've gone through in life... and I may still not even know how you do what you can do in the _first place_... but I'm here tonight to help you make the best choice you can, like you did for me... and right now? That consists in me telling you that you don't have to be a prisoner of your ideals, of your anger, of even your _revenge_ if that's what it is, if you know it'll only eat you alive in the end."

The knight felt as if he'd been struck... certainly struck speechless at the very least, he could only gape at the resolute young woman beside him until with a defeated sigh, he finally slumped back against the wall.

"...Blake, I-"

" _Promise me_."

"...What?" he asked softly, turning to see the young woman's face darkened by her hair as it fell forward with her gaze cast downward.

The knight quickly realized by her slightly increasingly labored breaths that she too had realized her assumption was more accurate than she was ready to accept.

"What I saw tonight, Jaune... it was nothing short of the most beautiful thing I've ever seen a human being do with a pair of swords... I saw the man you were as you fought to protect me... and I saw the man you _became_ when those two escaped."

Turning up to face him, Jaune's breath caught when he noticed the tears welling in her eyes and continuing to grow as she continued, " _That_ , J-Jaune... I _know_ where that latter path can lead you... and he's the whole reason we have to fight _against_ the White Fang now in the first place...!"

Jaune released his breath all at once as if punched in the gut... it was as if the heavy block lead of hate and revenge within him had fallen right through, only leaving a hole over an endless void of regret in its place. Because somehow he instinctively knew the man she was referring to at that very second...

The man whom he saw kill her in the Vytal Tournament with his very own eyes.

"So promise me, Jaune Arc... _promise me_ that you will never... _ever_... _k-kill another living being out of hate or revenge_... _!_ "

"Blake..."

But any choked rebuttal now dying in his throat as she leveled him with an almost threatening glare, Jaune had to instead fight down the knot quickly forming within it when her subsequent action of angrily tightening her lips wasn't enough to keep the first large round tear from falling down her cheek.

"I-I... I, promise..."

"..."

No sooner had the first few seconds passed after uttering those words that Jaune now felt a vaguely familiar weight on his shoulders, looking down to see jet black hair splayed across his chin and chest as Blake nuzzled herself deeper into the crook of his neck.

"I'm done with running and losing others along the way... I _don't_ want to lose my team, I _don't_ want to lose this life... and I especially do not want to lose you anymore, Jaune..."

Jaune let out a small sigh before eventually letting his arm fall around the girl's shoulders, the two staying that way for a few minutes before she finally straightened out and gave him a small grateful smile.

"So..." he began after what felt like ages of comfortable silence, "Was everyone okay after I passed out at the docks?"

Blake nodded as the two settled back to the wall beside each other, each one contemplating the full moon outside the ballroom windows as she continued, "Nothing more than minor scratches and scuffs here or there; it helped that both teams came. We left before the police could arrive and met with Miss Goodwitch at a rendezvous point elsewhere in the city to be brought back to Beacon."

Another divergence. Well... it couldn't be helped, that with him being unconscious and all. At least the Beacon faculty apparently still planned on keeping a lid on things.

"You could imagine the questions everyone had when we got back to our dorms... but apparently a few heavily damaged security tapes were recovered by police at the site since they needed to do a deeper investigation once they realized there were not any _non_ -criminal witnesses available to corroborate the events... tapes that of course eventually got leaked to the late night news..."

Oh? Now that was a new one. Jaune turned to face her with increasing curiosity when she turned back at him with a playfully raised brow.

"Apparently you're famous now. With the eye-witness accounts tied to the blurred excerpts of the security footage, that reporter lady had a field day," Blake noted, framing the next words as if they were the headline to the next day's newspaper, " _Mysterious Swordsman Fends Off Vale's Most Wanted as Seven Colorful Associates Cripple White Fang Operation_... it's like an old wartime tale turned modern urban legend... masterful swordsmanship on your part, and describing our Auras like shooting stars in the night..."

"A Swordman and his seven shooting Stars, huh?" Jaune wondered aloud, his brows shooting up at the unlikely parallel with another story he'd heard from the catgirl that night before muttering, "Guess things really _do_ come full circle, after all..."

"What was that?"

Not having heard his last remark since he was reaching over to grab something on his other side, Blake waited until he turned back to face her, apparently under the impression that she was asking about the electronic device in his hands.

"Got this from Nora's locker," Jaune began, holding up a music player which somewhat surprised Blake considering the camaraderie they must've had to share locker combinations already, before holding up the pair of nondescript earphones beside them with a quizzical look of his own, "And these... well, they happened to be beside my infirmary bed when I woke up."

"...Nora keeps a music player in her locker?"

"Well she doesn't quite remember that she left it here yet, _heh_ , she actually doesn't bring it back to the dorm unti-" Jaune caught himself and quickly stopped his train of thought with a small gulp as it became quite apparent that it'd be rather difficult to explain how he knew she wouldn't recover her misplaced device until the second semester, instead turning to face Blake with a small chuckle, "until uh... well, Ren told me all about it."

Blake simply blinked at the knight's sudden change of demeanor, shrugging it off when he quickly began fiddling with the player itself and popping one of the earbuds on.

Still, she was surprised when in her motion to reach out for her book, a hand reached into her line of sight holding the other earbud.

"If... you want. I mean, it's quiet enough in here to need only one in, right...?"

Taken aback by the gesture, she merely returned a small smile and took the earbud into her own ear before going along with his line of thought to ease his nerves.

"Might as well share... thanks, Jaune."

And with a small nod, Jaune picked out a song from what was labeled a list of mainstream Top Chart songs - though none seemed familiar in the least - before leaning his head back against the wall and letting his hand holding the music player drop in the small space between the two teens.

To his relief, it seemed he was indeed correct as a forlorn piano intro began to play with a clarity that resounded clearly in his ears thanks to the silence of the room; he may as well have been listening with both earbuds on, after all.

His eyes closed just as the lyrics began, feeling a strange sense of falling back through the wall but letting the melody soothe him regardless without stirring.

* * *

 _..._

 _Oh were out~ of~ time~_  
 _The fi-nal call~ is call-ing~_

Forests. Flashes of sunlight through canopies...

 _The light~ falls~ light-ly~_  
 _Be-tween~ us~_

He barely notices it until the first several seconds have already passed...

Feet plodding through the undergrowth. Clearer than he's ever dreamt in his mind's eye... could it be the music?

 _Before to-mor-row~ comes~_  
 _And it all~ gets lost~ again~_

Letting the realization sink in very, very slowly, lest it wake him from his reverie, Jaune lets the memory become clearer like a lucid dream...

An unexpected turn as the scenery he once thought a happy memory is anything but...

 _The a-shes~ burn~ down~ bright-est~_  
 _When we've eve-ry-thing~ to lose~_

There's smoke in the distance as he and five... six... no, _seven_ others in hooded capes like his flee the battle...

He looks down and finds his gauntlets and weapons dripping with blood and ochre...

 _So scrib-ble~ me~ ...out~_

One of his companions trips on the undergrowth, her auburn hair spilling out from behind her hood and his breath catching as an arrow finds its mark in the back of her leg...

 _Mis-takes~ e-rased~_

Silent cries of anguish as the group turns back and rushes to help her...

 _Forgot-ten~_

Six... seven... they're all female?

 _Life~ goes~ o-on~_

His infuriated yell at the unseen attackers in the dense forest, the young knight staying behind and brandishing his bloody sword to let the rest get away...

An impossibly bright flash of light that seems to set the world itself on fire...

 _With-out~ ...me~_

* * *

Jaune barely felt the hand settle over his as Blake noticed his slightly labored breathing, the physical contact calming him just as the somber mood of the song began to inflect with a new tone, signaling a break into the next and undoubtedly more hopeful verse.

The ravenette, satisfied with the deed and the unexpected surge of warmth the action sent through her hand, made no motion to move it away as she settled her head back against the wall and began enjoying the song's change in tempo herself.

* * *

 _But she said~ trust me~_  
 _These are the sto-ries we~ will~ tell~_  
 _As I stood fro-zen~_  
 _In-finite~ I al-most fell~ ...But_

Jaune opens his eyes, still in this trance-like state realizing he'd been pulled aside to safety right in the nick of time...

He turns back to see the group of young women about his age giddily celebrating and jumping for joy in their small haven underground, sealed from danger by thick, tightly woven roots of the trees around them... and utterly floored when one of them - a stunningly beautiful woman with blonde hair and lustrous blue eyes - grabs him by the shoulders with an exclamation he can actually _hear..._

"It was here! It was actually _here_ , just as you said it would be!"

 _I got a feel-ing~_  
 _And my heart~ starts~ beating~_  
 _A su-dden~ rush of feel-ing aliiive~_  
 _This is~ free-dom~_

It's no trance... this... "Is a memory," Jaune tells himself, audible in his own mind as the woman with a lovely monkey's tail returns to celebrate with her sisters in arms...

 _And I won't~ change~_  
 _I~ won't~ phase~ out~_  
 _I'm~ no~ ghost~_

Jaune settles back against a 'wall' of tightly packed roots and incredulously runs a hand through his hair before letting out a giddy laugh of his own at his newest revelation...

One of the women slowly making her way to him with an ear to ear grin and catching his attention with a kiss on his cheek, something vaguely familiar about her strikes him as a curious shade of purple hazes the edges of his vision...

 _Let~ me~ go~_

In the instrumental buildup, Jaune opens his eyes to look at the young woman accompanying him...

But instead of Blake, he realizes he's still looking at the woman in his memory just as the song reaches the drop.

* * *

Jaune opened his eyes in earnest as the song now erupted into an upbeat instrumental melody, turning to see the dozing ravenette's head propped on his shoulder and vaguely aware that her hand had settled over his at some point before using his free hand to pull out the player so as not to disturb her.

About two minutes left.

Jaune shrugged.

"Welp... unlocking my Semblance isn't the end. It can still grow and evolve, right?" he whispered at Blake's sleeping form, talking to himself as much as to her before nodding in self-agreement, "Providing you're willing to put in the work, who knows what could happen?"

And with that, he put down the player and reached out into the world and into himself with his Aura, closing his eyes with a slight smile and not even minding the strange purplish haze once again clouding the edges of his vision as he dove right back in.

With the calming upbeat track the music provided, focusing his mind onto a single string of... _something_ , but _string_ just intrinsically felt like the right way to describe it... he was able to land right back into the underground alcove where he was seated with the seven women without any ripples of consciousness blurring the scene.

"So... that was a thing."

"Undoubtedly. This could very well change the war."

"Arturia... this could change the _world_."

Many murmurs and exclamations in agreement before a pat on the shoulder from a tail or something caught the knight's attention.

"And we have _you_ to thank for it... we owe you our lives."

"Not to mention money! Ugh, you and your incorrigible betting habits..."

"Sister, I'm sure that was only meant in jest... I think. Though the new naming idea of his could catch on."

"I suppose we'll need to have children, then."

"I suppose _he'll_ have to help us with that!"

" _I-I beg your pardon!?_ "

Jaune simply chuckled at the exchange before glancing at the woman by his side who then nuzzled her head into the crook of his neck, soon straightening herself out to speak up for the first time and deliver an announcement.

"Speaking of children," she began, something in her voice causing Jaune to furrow his brows, "Sisters... Mother Remnant has yet to visit me in over one month now as is the way of women... and I believe..."

The small space immediately going silent in expectation, elated squeals erupted as her hand came up to cover her womb.

"This is truly grand!" the one who seemed the eldest, Arturia, exclaimed before unexpectedly directing herself to Jaune, "You must return to the counsel and inform the generals of the victory which has occurred here today, but be sure to inform the Admiral first. We will take care of her transport, do not worry; the Admiral will no doubt wish to hear of the news as well... with the war as good as won now, that old man will know what to do from here."

He nodded, figuring that this was his cue to step up and gather his things to leave as the others surrounded the expecting mother.

"Names! You must've chosen names!"

"Indeed, dear sisters..."

"If it is a girl?"

"...I was considering, Arryn, as a likely choice."

"If it is a boy...?"

Jaune paused just as he was reaching the threshold of the alcove when the briefest of knowing glances from the woman caught his eye.

With the look as gone as quickly as it came and her face now positively beaming at her peers, she rested her hands on her womb once more as she replied.

"... _Jaune_."

His eyes snapping open with a deep gasp, the young knight was back on the ballroom floor with the young ravenette still beside him sound asleep...

The song had just finished.

Wiping the sweat from his brow and gazing at the moon as if it would give him the answers as the only witness he knew might've still been around at whenever that just was, Jaune ran his hand trough his hair incredulously and groaned with the onslaught of a sudden craving for Death Wish coffee like never before.

" _What in Monty Dickie-Grimm Oum's name is going on here_..."

* * *

 **A/N:** _After an unexpected hiatus, here we are. I should note that almost all of the interactions - implicit or explicit - found in this chapter were planned out from nearly the beginning, and not exactly altered or affected by the hiatus. In fact, one could say that the prospect of writing such a chapter in the time period I was living in (2016) played a small part in the cause of the hiatus in the first place._

 _Nonetheless, we've reached the end of **Chapter 13** and the Anomalous Propagation arc, and it was written with the freedom of it going where it needed to go. It'll be a while until I can get out more chapters, and I've been gripped by a new idea which may or may not come to fruition. But other than that, rest assured that I won't go another two years in the dark. I think._

 _If you're curious about the song, feel free to PM me._

 _In the meantime for next chapter, feel free to show your support for the fic (or heck, just as a hello) by leaving a **Fave** , **Follow** , and **Review** , and I'll no doubt be back again soon enough. Until then, take care,_

 _ **And Happy Reading!**_


	14. Kiss From a Rose

_**Kiss From A Rose**_

* * *

"D'you think this'll work?"

"I... actually couldn't say."

"But c'mon! Your ideas are always like, super cool and stuff that everyone likes!"

"Yeah but this isn't one of times, sniffles! I'm pretty sure this is like one of those things you gotta... figure out on your own. I think..."

"Jauuuuneeee-ugh," the young crimsonette finally lamented as the two leaders walked side by side along the busy street, dramatically throwing hear head back before slamming her binder shut a few moments later to shoot the blonde a silver-eyed admittedly adorable glare, "And what'd I say about calling me _sniffles!?_ "

"What can I say? It's sweet, rolls off the tongue, and I love it!"

Jaune erupted into laughter at her nonplussed reaction, Ruby meaning to correct him but unable to do so as a faint blush crept onto her cheeks at his admitted liking to the name, "W-Well... if you don't mean it in a bad way and like it _that_ much..."

"What wazzat?" the knight asked, wiping a tear from his eyes and having missed her words.

"N-Nothing! But I still don't know how to end the day after so much planned for the next few hours... and the ending is like, supposed to be the best part!"

"I know, I know... cheer up, we'll figure it out," Jaune replied good-naturedly, meaning to have simply taken her to his side with a sympathetic side hug when he suddenly found a slender arm around his waist as well and shaking his head with a small chuckle when the crimsonette beside him gave him an ear-to-ear grin in apparent approval of their new walking position.

And so they continued down the street, the knight with his fellow leader wrapped in one arm and a bag holding that new board game she'd been raving about for a few days in the other. It had been a few weeks since the incident at the docks, and Jaune had found solace in the unexpected warmth his teammates and sister team had provided after the night he'd spent in the ballroom... in any case, whether it was instigated by Ruby, Blake, or even Pyrrha, he'd simply taken to accepting the companionship of the friends he held dear and taking every opportunity he could in the meantime to learn more about his strange, strange Semblance.

Jaune frowned as they paused at a corner to wait for the green light, the young leader beside him taking the chance to nuzzle her head against his shoulder with a beaming smile and heedless of the murky cloud hovering over her brooding classmate's head.

He'd been able to take the music player he'd borrowed from Nora and "train" with it on multiple occasions, reaching out in moments of solitary meditation to find similar strings like the one he had discovered that night with Blake. It was, needless to say, somewhat unsurprising to find that other "strings" existed all around him, each with their own color and vibrance with which a new feeling or image would settle into his mind when he reached out to it with his aura. However, most snippets would only be of scenes or moments - present or future, he couldn't tell - having to do with Beacon students unrelated to him, and the only thing that kept him pressing on despite the harrowing possibility of the infringement of privacy this ability granted him... was the fact that the mental exercise of threading along the string to its end seemed to result in many of them ending in the same spot. Or date.

"Green light."

Jaune blinked, his musing momentarily disrupted by the soft tug along his waist forward as his companion began making her way across the street as well. His mind wandering again to how many of these strings and moments never really settled on a definitive event, possibly because he felt that there was nothing that really happened in Vale in the first place between semesters in the original timeline, Jaune hedged a sigh at the realization that the night with Blake at the docks hadn't been the first time he'd reached out like that before.

Or, more precisely... it _had_ been that "day"... except _earlier_ that day, when he'd absolutely lost it upon connecting the dots surrounding that fateful day's events in the Coliseum. The knight gulped at the memory of the swirling storm of boiling emotion the realization had unleashed upon him, knowing for a fact that it was the first time such anguish had so consumed him in his life. Of course, loss itself was one thing... but nothing quite compared to the rage that would accompany the bereavement upon confirming the identity of the perpetrators for the first time. And the mystery had begun barely a minute after that...

First Pyrrha, then Blake. And now even Ruby, his earlier use of that particular facet of his Semblance during their foray into downtown Vale reminding him of the food fight they'd be soon to have today.

The haze of colors surrounding his vision framing memories he knew couldn't be his... it was as if it were all triggered by that-

"Crime scene."

Jaune froze at Ruby's sudden intrusion into his thoughts, his brief expression of concern slowly turning into one of despair as he followed where her finger pointed to the nearby store and read the name on the sign.

" _Another_ one... can't believe it. I thought we'd ended all that weeks ago!"

He barely heard her exasperated words as he began trudging slack-jawed to the store, feeling the color draining from his face as he crossed to the other corner of the street towards the yellow tape, "No, Ruby... I don't think this was a robbery. This store doesn't sell Dust."

"Wait up!" she briefly called out to him, quickly zipping across the street to join him and cocking her head at the sign over the store, "Oh right... sold books. But who'd rob a bookstore?"

" _They wouldn't_ ," he replied to himself in a whisper, catching sight of an unmistakable spatter of red along an inner wall through the open door before his vision was blocked by a man walking out while jotting down a few final notes. Ruby let out a small eep when the man caught sight of Jaune and actually removed his shades, his brass badge glinting in the sunlight.

"Hey kid, ya got a real knack for running into active crime scenes, ya know that?" the detective began, recognizing the students who each recognized him in turn, "What. You knew the guy who owned this place?"

Ruby looked up at Jaune, her heart sinking a bit at seeing that empty expression Glynda had warned them against upon his face for the first time in days before he slowly shook his head.

"No."

"Eh, figures. Middle of the day, anyways, not many around the block that might've witnessed anything either... middle of the _day_ , who _does_ that?" the detective mumbled to himself before turning back to the inside of the store, his position blocking any view the shorter crimsonette could've had of the interior, "Ey Burnie! You done with the report yet!? Anyway kids, might as well scram. Don't you got school today?"

"R-Right! We'll head out," Ruby replied cheerily, albeit with a nervous crack in her tone betraying her true emotions beneath before tugging at Jaune's arm, "C'mon, Jaune, lunchtime in the cafeteria starts soon and everyone will be waiting."

Jaune took a moment longer to gaze at the golden lettering set on the green placard over the newly defunct store before turning away to follow the young woman.

"So... did ya know him?"

"...Hm?"

Jaune turned to face Ruby in earnest after they'd made some distance from the store, the two having continued towards the bullhead station with a heavier mood set over them. Ruby was glad to see that the expression had lifted somewhat, something about post-battle trauma that the ever-vigilant Professor Goodwitch had warned the teams about in private which the seven students had earnestly promised to help him through. Ruby couldn't imagine how hard it must have been for him to face those criminals, but in the end it only made her respect him so much more for his skill and admire him for his resolve to protect those who mattered to him.

So of course she'd gone out of her way to spend what amounted to more time with him over the past few weeks than anyone else... it was her duty! As a friend and fellow leader!

But mostly a friend!

In a friendly friend kind of way!

 _Totally_ not a friendly friend kind of way that was open to... more friendship!

"Nothing," she settled with replying, her warm smile causing him to return one of his own as they arrived to their destination with a bullhead already approaching from a distance before she held up her binder, "So, you think they'll like what I got planned for the rest of today?"

He shook his head as his smile grew into a grin, "Nope."

"Eh!?"

Tousling her hair a bit with a light chuckle, Jaune continued, "I _know_ they will. Like my dad always said, all you need is a little confidence. The rest will sort itself out, trust me."

Her following retorts died down as the bullhead that would serve as their shuttle back to Beacon landed nearby, Ruby's eyes simply trailing the blond hair and broad back as she followed her fellow leader towards the shuttle door with a warm feeling inside her chest that she couldn't quite place.

"Confidence, huh?" she whispered to herself, her heart jumping at the realization of what she was feeling towards the young man whose side she wanted to be on as he changed the world like she always knew he would, "Yeah... I guess you're right. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do~"

"As for what you said earlier... no," Jaune added as he hopped onto the bullhead deck, facing Ruby as he helped her up by her hand in a gesture she was only too willing to accept, "I didn't know the guy."

"Oh, okay," Ruby noted aloud as the pair found their seats and she settled into a comfortable position to lean on his shoulder, "I just hope whoever the owner was is alright."

The irony was both tragic and somehow oddly comforting to the knight, who simply found himself content at his beloved friend's amiable innocence as the name of the store flashed a final time through his mind.

 _Tukson's Book Trade_

He sighed as the shuttle lifted off and began making its way back to the academy, for Blake's sake resigning himself to keeping that specific detail to himself and himself alone for the rest of his days.

Another life he'd never know. Another life he'd never save.

* * *

A few hours later, and a series of events following that brought just the right amount of refreshment to his tired spirit that he needed, the knight mentally fist-pumped with the accomplishment of not having been painfully slammed against a window as he once had been before. In fact... it didn't take long for Jaune to come to a conclusive realization.

"I'm Queen of the cast-le! I'm Queen of the cast-le!~"

He'd missed that terrible sing-song chant a great deal more than he cared to admit.

But unwilling to take the taunt without retribution, Ruby stomped her foot on a nearby table before pointing dramatically at team JNPR and their veritable fortress of cafeteria furnishings, "Justice will be swift! Justice will be painful! It-"

"I _OBJECT!_ " Jaune roared, pointing in an equally dramatic fashion at his opposing leader before Weiss threw her hands up in the distance.

"To _what!?_ "

His finger wilted a bit as he frowned in thought at his hasty rebuttal, "Er... I was hoping to come up with a good one-liner while I was objecting... I didn't."

" _Ahahah!_ " Nora cut in to continue, her regal antics saving the moment, "Yell it at the top of your lungs, finger outstretched, ready to take on our opponents! What a rush!"

Taking the morale boost for what it was worth, team JNPR shouted with fists raised simultaneously, " _Yeah!_ "

Jaune thanked the stars above for his continued inter-loop physical training as his bubbly teammate leapt down from her fortress, his body settling into a natural stance with his eyes skirting over possible weapons with speed that far outpaced his past self. He'd had no chance the first time around, but now he smirked with the prospect of causing a little positive divergence for once.

"Nora! Watermelons!"

"Aye aye, cap!~ _Off with their heads!_ "

And with a wood-crunching slam, the watermelon table that seemingly appeared out of nowhere - Jaune made a mental note to try and figure out that mystery someday - launched its juicy projectiles over the opposition party. In those moments, the knight set himself to begin learning the movements of his peers in earnest, beginning with the turkey-wielding brawler who stepped forward with intricate combos to make quick work of the oversized fruit.

"Oho, dearest Yang~ I'm pretty sure that's not what they mean with the phrase _Beating your Meat._ "

The brawler coming to a stop at the unexpected appearance of the unarmed knight blocking her onslaught, her small smirk preceded a silent chuckle as she held up her turkey fists in preparation for battle.

"Heh, you must have more guts than I gave you credit for, coming at me without a weapon... and while I'm impressed you've also learned the dark arts of the lewd pun-"

And without another word, she sped towards her new opponent with a surprise attack, wholly and utterly surprised herself when her flurry of punches hit nothing but air... with fists held up, he would only dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge around every one with impeccable footwork.

Her surprise settling into a small grimace as her irises briefly flashed red, Yang growled, "Turn your _aura_ on, Vomit Boy, unless you wanna become a pretty corpse..."

"Sticking with _Vomit Boy_ , aren't we? But that nickname is _so_ last semester~" Jaune taunted lightly as he weaved around another intricate combo she'd sent his way, "And it's not like I have aura dysfunction... it's just that you're giving me little reason to _get it up~_ "

Narrowing her eyes at her confident - and nimble - adversary, Yang extinguished the growing blaze in her hair by slamming her turkey fists together, her irises flashing back to lilac with a small smirk after finding herself thoroughly impressed by his previously unknown fanciful footwork.

"Not every day you meet a dork with feet as fast as his eyes. Gotta give it to ya, you're still full of surprises," but now advancing forward with a mischievous gleam in her eye, Yang rolled her shoulders and lifted her fists once more while gaining speed, "But as I was saying, I'm afraid the only one really affected by _those_ puns in the team is our lil Blakey-poo~"

"Funny you mention that. You didn't realize this was all about her in the first place?"

The blonde brawler stopped in her tracks, cocking her head in question, "Eh?"

"-Pwagh! Argh, _yuck!_ "

The reply came from somewhere behind her, both blondes turning to see the cat girl in question now drenched in juice with pieces of watermelon still falling off of her, an affronted Yang turning to see a smirking Jaune before Blake shook off her distaste - and sticky soaked blazer - to pick up a pair of baguettes nearby in pursuit of what Jaune could vaguely recall would be his ginger partner.

"Y'know, I'm pretty sure there's a pun somewhere in the whole 'sticky cat ready for a sloppy second round' thing she's going for there..."

" _Argh!_ Enough of your shameless punography, already!"

Planting her footing with a brief blaze of ire, Yang pulled her arm back in what looked like would precede a mid-range dashing punch.

Jaune smirked, partly from reading the real nature of her next movement through the split-second twitch of her arm and last-second shift of her back leg, but also because he knew he'd never forget the pain from being turkey torpedoed once before.

" _Yah!_ "

Anticipating the flight paths of the roasted poultry in what otherwise would've been the perfect surprise attack, Jaune ducked and sidestepped both in rapid succession, nearly slipping awkwardly but regaining his balance right on time to shoot a knowing victorious grin at the fuming brawler.

"Aaaarrrc! _How_ did you-?"

"Incoming."

Hesitating at his unexpected rebuttal, Yang barely had time to glance up and dodge the first two crispy baguettes before being taken down bodily by the third. Jaune turned back to give a brief appreciative nod to his partner, who returned one in kind with a winning grin before each went their separate ways.

He knew that as long as he didn't go down, it'd be one more variable for team RWBY to keep an eye on, and potentially one more distraction that could cost them the end game. Of course it was only a theory at this juncture, but Jaune always did his best to test said theories whenever on a vanguard loop, if only to figure out the nature of events relating to the timeline itself in terms of malleability. In this case, he was sure that if he could only help Nora and Pyrrha make a stand at the makeshift fortress, and somehow keep Ren in play long enough to support them, they'd have a chance...

 ** _whoosh_**

Narrowly dodging a random food tray that came out of nowhere as he sprinted back towards the JNPR castle, Jaune spotted his only male teammate coming to a stop at a table which was somehow not only still intact, but with a small assortment of vegetables on top.

"Stick with the leeks, not the cucumbers!"

Struck speechless and immensely curious at how his leader would've known his internal deliberations, Ren could only respond briefly in the moments Jaune sprinted by him, intrigued by what Semblance-enhanced wisdom the knight could provide about the stoic's fighting style and perhaps even of Ren himself, "Why?"

"Cucumbers are weird! Might as well fight with eggplants while you're at it!"

The stoic could only blink for a moment before a deadpan came over him, his drawled sigh at the sound of crumbling masonry - seemed like an actual _column_ \- on the other side of the cafeteria which could only have been caused by Nora now cut short by another unexpected addition.

" _And whatever you do, don't look up her skirt!_ "

Ren visibly balked a the unorthodox advice before a roar behind him brought his attention to another fairly angry blonde who was rather clearly charging at her intended fellow blonde target. Despite the fact that the knight's quirks could occasionally even rival those of Nora's, Ren cracked a small smirk at his admittedly strange but beloved team, knowing he wouldn't change it for the world even as he passed up the cucumbers to take the pair or leeks and stand in the brawler's way.

Jaune returned to the fortress none the wiser, but able to turn and see the last of the skirmish right on time to witness Yang perform the mid-air takedown nearly exactly as he'd witnessed once before. Needless to say, the knight couldn't help but wimce and ruefully smack his forehead at the sight.

"...He looked up her skirt."

To his rather immediate concern, however, another roar from behind him which sounded like a half question, half exclamation, and half enraged battle cry preceded a rough shove to the side from a not so bubbly ginger as she passed him.

"Well _I've_ got something to put up that skirt! And it's gonna. get. _messy!_ "

Judging by the very dangerous glint in her eyes, Jaune quickly surmised that it had something to do with that oversized watermelon tenderizer the valkyrie was currently sporting.

But before he could decide wether that particular divergence was a good idea or not, or come up with a few choice puns to further annoy the brawler, a brief glint from the corner of his eye alerted him to a presence he knew he'd have to intercept. Dashing forward nearly on instinct, an impulse which even surprised himself, Jaune grabbed the first item he could get his hands on to hop onto a nearby table and block the meaty whip which was originally meant for the ginger bomber.

 ** _TWANG!_**

With the muffled sound of meat smacking against tin, Jaune thanked his usually abysmal luck that he'd actually gotten his hands on a decent trashcan lid before lowering it to find a nonplussed watermelon-stained ravenette glowering at her escaping target for revenge.

"Move aside, Jaune. Don't make me destroy you."

"It's no use, Blake," the knight replied pleadingly, raising his arms at his sides to further pronounce his stature, "I have the higher ground."

"You underestimate my power," she replied with a dangerous smirk, already beginning to twirl her weapon behind her.

He settled down into a defensive stance, making a note to find a more offensive weapon should he eventually get the chance, "Then I shall do what I must."

"You will try."

With that, the duel began in earnest, the ravenette looking to knock off her opponent from his footing and the opponent looking to buy his teammate enough time. However, after the third or fourth shadowclone-aided attack, Jaune found the edges of his vision clouding over unexpectedly with each strike... with a cloudy, violet haze.

 _Lately you've been quiet, antisocial, and moody!_

"...Weiss?"

 ** _Thwok_**

Grunting in pain, Jaune received a heavy lash to the side, knocking him off his table. But unwilling to give Blake the opening she needed to engage Nora, he used the momentum to roll up from his side and block the follow up attack which was meant to smack him away.

 _I just, I don't understand how everyone could be so calm._

Curious about the unexpected vision, and the potent emotional transfer coming through with it, Jaune looked for an opportunity to test an aspect of this strange aural phenomenon by goading the cat girl into a sloppy attack. He had just the thing.

"So Blake, playing with quite a few wieners there, I see. Enacting some sort of deep-rooted fantasy maybe?"

As expected, and even more so, Blake froze on the spot. Quickly looking between her choice of weapon and the knight several times, she went beet red in her hasty attempts to stutter out a rebuttal before realization dawned on her face, her expression finally settling into a deep grimace with a scoff, " _Yaaaaannng_..."

Without another moment of hesitation, Blake whipped out the end of her meat weapon right at him with an audible growl.

Jaune took the opportunity for what it was worth, catching the whip by the last sausage link and grinning when the effect was immediate.

 _You're still thinking about Torhwick?_

 _Torchwick, the White Fang, all of it! Something big is happening and no one is doing anything about it!_

"So... the susages are aura enhanced," Jaune whispered to himself, now making sense of how all this food could seemingly take so much punishment without exploding, " _And_ it makes these aural connections stronger..."

Keeping his grip firm as Blake tried to pull it away, Jaune took note of the surroundings of the vision - RWBYs dorm, by the looks of it - before using the counter momentum to his advantage and twisting around to begin wrapping the links around himself and inevitably dragging a yelping Blake closer.

"I'm gonna have to do something about that..."

But no sooner had the thought crossed his mind with his resolution set to be of aid when the background seemed to shift, the walls of the dorm surprisingly morphing into shelves upon shelves of books before his eyes snapped open to find a bewildered amber-eyed gaze inches from his own.

"A... a-about what?"

Even as the unusually subdued ravenette stared into the eyes of her captor looking for an answer as to what he meant, finding herself somewhat conflicted with what to expect after his earlier comment, he couldn't help but notice that her eyes did seem to show some fatigue... whatever he'd seen in the vision, it'd be happening soon.

His internal musings now interrupted by the rising body heat from the girl he realized he'd been left pressed rather firmly against - and a telltale crash through the roof indicating that Nora had exacted her revenge - he couldn't help but give a small chuckle at seeing the ravenette silently gulp with a faint blush rising up her cheeks from up close.

He had to admit, it was _absolutely adorable_.

"J-J- _Jaune!?_ "

"Oops. Said that last part out loud. Sorry not sorry!" Jaune realized with a fair amount of color draining from his face, charging an aura push that promptly blasted her out of their meaty confines by several feet where she landed on her feet - unsurprisingly - desperately shaking her head to get it back in the game. Nearly by instinct with the memories of the first fight fresh in his mind, Jaune barked over his shoulder, "Nora! Soda!"

"...Jaune?"

Quickly turning at the unexpected reply to see his partner in front of their fortress giving him a quizzical expression, a few things clicked in the knight's mind in reasonably rapid succession.

He'd survived Yang's turkey attack.

Her pursuit of him had brought her to Ren sooner than intended.

He escaped Yang thanks to Ren but delayed Nora by a scant few seconds, letting Blake recover.

His intervention meant Blake would never lash Nora against the sodas.

Ergo, no sodas to grenade Blake - or for Pyrrha to bombard with.

Ruby would now have Blake as backup.

"Uh oh."

But in a belated answer to his orders, curiously enough, the sound of snapping electrical wires and groaning metal preceded the appearance of JNPRs second redhead holding a giant vending machine of grape soda over her head.

"People! Like! _Grrrapes!_ "

The last word came out as more of a grunt, mostly because Nora made the olympian effort of actually heaving the entire machine at the dumbfounded ravenette.

" _No, Nora No!_ "

Pyrrha's exclamation was then closely followed up with action, the Mistralian's hands going a subtle few shades darker with aura as she enveloped the metallic box in her semblance and threw her hands down, sending the machine crashing down in the process.

But almost by some strange twist of fate, not only did the machine crash on its side with the entire payload activating like some form of carbonated nitroglycerin, but the entire front was blasted off with enough force of spraying soda to take the unfortunate cat girl with it all across the cafeteria.

Alas, it was not meant to be enough, as the hapless knight soon came to realize.

Ruby saw her remaining teammate in play blasted in a spray of grape soda.

Her resolve redoubled, the final sprint was set to take the whole cafeteria with it if need be.

And most of team JNPR could only gape at the maw of swirling food, debris, and soda now coming at them like a convoluted, sugary hurricane.

Jaune, however, let himself be lifted in the air with a harrumph, actually crossing his arms as he flew through the air towards a potentially fatal crash without aura as he categorized the events for future reference. All it'd take is retracing the steps of the past few week-

"Wait. _Few weeks!?_ " Jaune suddenly realized in shock, "NOPE!"

And just before he hit the large cafeteria wall along with Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren, the knight managed to activate his aura to avoid a life-ending impact before the four defeated students could lamely slip off the wall and back to the floor.

Next thing he knew, he came to at the sound of clicking heels approaching, looking up blearily to see the disciplinarian herself already putting the room back together with her semblance.

"Children, please... do not play with your food!"

Jaune audibly grunted, more than tired of his ill fortune of always having to listen to that woman and her soul-crushing heels stepping on the floor where his face was planted, an action that would've annoyed her had she not been busy rebuilding school property.

The team slowly stood, Nora burping aloud in her recovery when Jaune himself simply shook his head. Rocks thrown in a river... but ultimately the stream continued onward. It was a fun try for what it was worth, but he couldn't help but huff at the fact that his initial change was the fatal mistake in the end.

Somehow, it was all Yang's fault.

So much was he so convinced that Jaune even took the liberty of knowingly tossing a pair of turkeys onto a nearby table... just in time for a screaming Yang to come back crashing down through the roof and landing butt first right on top of them.

However, there was just one small detail that had Jaune's - and admittedly Ren's, not that he'd ever say so in a million years - eyes going wide as saucers once the dust settled. One that a very nearly flustered Glynda balked at from the very edge of her composure.

"M-Miss Xiao Long! _Where!_ On _Remnant_ is your _skirt?!_ "

Jaune would never in a billion loops forget the sight of said brawler standing, the effect of the grease having splashed up and soaked into her light cottony undergarments and blouse working absolute _wonders_... wonders which, while having caused measurable alarm among her teammates as she stood and actually _turned_ in a way that flashed both front and behind to those present without having yet fully realized her predicament, simply had a slack-jawed Jaune idly fist-bumping a _very_ smug ginger bomber at his side.

"Found it! And for Oum's sake have some more _decency_ next time, Xiao Long!" Weiss cried out some distance away, flinging a stained and inexplicably charred loop of fabric over to the grumbling brawler who quickly put it back on and knew full well why there seemed to be plenty of lingering static in the material.

"Aw shut it, I feel like my butt got broken..."

"Oh no, Yang, I doubt it," Jaune now began, a wide grin on his face as he drove the point home and the final nail in the coffin, "Every butt has a crack in it!"

With the round of groans that ensued along with a narrow-eyed glare Yang sent his way, Jaune was sure that violence may ensue but was completely unprepared to get his pun one-upped from a totally unexpected source.

"Keh, it would've done you a favor, Yang... you've got more butt than the end of my rifle."

"Ooo, _burn!_ " Nora cried out, the rest of the students breaking down into a fit of laughter with even Yang giving her younger sister an utterly scandalized look before busting out laughing herself.

Glynda watched the scene with more and more reasons to pile on reprimands and punishments, but as she watched the amused students - even Weiss covering her face with a palm to suppress a chuckle and the brawler bringing in her sister for a congratulatory hug for her first pun - it was a genuinely happy and entertained Jaune in his fit of laughter which ultimately drew her attention... and doused the flames of anger.

By the time Ozpin had come to place a hand on her shoulder, she'd already done precisely what he was about to advise.

"Let it go."

Jaune had gone over to his team, each trading grins in their respectable loss and even getting a benign pat on the back from Pyrrha when his eyes caught Blake's in the distance. Sending her a warm smile in his resolution to help come what may, he was somewhat surprised to receive a similar smile from her in return. And with that, it was settled.

No longer would he let his team stand on the sidelines while team RWBY or its members needed help, timelines be damned.

The knight traded a glance with the headmaster as he seemed to be conferring with Glynda, a mercy no doubt, but with the amount of time having passed between his having spoken to either of them, it still felt like they were going to get a free pass just like the first time.

"We'll defend the world somehow," he mumbled to himself, "But right now I'll enjoy every chance we can get together... after all, it might not be a scene I get to replay forever."

For all he knew, their cooperation would be what it'd take to save Beacon, and he'd follow through with that goal even to the ends of Remnant.

* * *

"Have a little faith. You'll know what you need when you need to know~"

"O-Okay... then what now?"

"We're moving... to _these_ coordinates."

" _Those_ coordinates?"

"We're proceeding to _phase two_."

Jaune took a long-suffering sigh, setting his cards face down on the table and resisting the urge to pinch his nose.

"Weiss, we're on the same team... you've barely told me anything about phase _one_."

"A-And whose fault is _that_ , hm?"

"Um... yours," Ruby began cautiously, furrowing her brows in thought, "Right?"

"Well... the game says four players, so forgive _me_ if there are evident strategic disadvantages from adding a player to each team!"

Ren glanced up from the cards held in his hand, having taken point after his ravenette teammate playing Vale had delegated him executive powers so she could apparently ruminate over a few thoughts in her mind.

"Well, Jaune did keep you from attacking your own naval fleet two turns ago."

"Vacuo is in a _desert!_ How was I supposed to know that was _our_ fleet?!"

Drawing his lips into a thin line to keep from saying anything regrettable, Jaune merely nodded at Ruby to move things along, "Anyway. Your turn, Rubes."

And this was the woman he'd once fawned over. Jaune let out a slow, long sigh while going over the rest of his cards and memory of the first game they'd had.

"Hmmmmm... All right... All right!" Ruby began before exclaiming with a dramatic pointing motion at her sister, "Yang Xiao Long, prepare your kingdom for battle!"

"Bring it on!"

"I deploy the Atlesian Air Fleet!" the crimson state then proclaimed, Jaune's memory getting jogged as the card was played and Yang feigned a look of shock, "Looks like I get to fly right over your Ursai and attack your walls directly!"

"You fiend!"

"Curses on your Atlesian homes!" Nora added from beside the brawler, the two powerhouses having reconciled enough to join forces in this venture. But from across the library table where they sat, Jaune narrowed his eyes at his fellow blonde, knowing her indignance was only paper-thin and recalling that Ruby's attack could prove costly.

"And since Atlas is part of Mantle, it would seem your repair time is only one turn, Ruby," Pyrrha noted amiably, giving her temporary partner a supportive nod, "Well played!"

However, Yang simply winked at Nora with a haughty cackle.

"Pretty sneaky, sis, but you just activated my trap card!"

"Giant Nevermore!" The ginger bomber cried out triumphantly, slamming the card on the table as Yang continued.

"If I roll a seven or higher, fatal feathers will slice your fleet in two!"

"But, if you roll a six or lower, the Nevermore will turn on your own forces!"

"That's just a chance I'm willing to take."

Taking the challenge in stride, the two sisters glared at each other defiantly, Weiss turning to her temporary teammate to see him shaking his head consolingly at the crimsonette.

To the heiress' surprise, the act of consolation seemed to have some merit as her leader's last play turned out to deliver worse and worse results... in effect crippling her army, resources, and even losing two extra cards from her hands.

"Have you no heart?" Ruby finally eked out, collapsing on the table with a groan, "Nooo!"

Nora simply let out a dark chuckle with her new significantly larger hand of cards, "Muahaha! We might as well finish it now and go back to reading!~ Cuz... we _are_ in a library and stuff."

" _Thank you!_ " Ren conferred wholeheartedly, actually throwing up his hands a bit at the remark in agreement.

"Not just yet," Yang retorted proudly at her teammate, "We still got a couple more fish to fry, and a white knight duo to boot. Weiss? _Your_ turn."

Not missing the dangerous smirk and mischievous undertones that the cunning brawler was sending her way, Weiss narrowed her eyes, unwilling to take any chances as she now consulted with her teammate in earnest.

"I have..." she thrusted the few cards in her hands out for Jaune to see, "Absolutely no idea what's going on."

Jaune cocked a brow at her, Weiss' small wince and ghost of an apologetic smile reminding him that while she was still somewhat immature - or maybe he was getting more mature? Tough to say - she was still coming into herself as a young woman. With marked improvements as well, if this small gesture of willingness to work with someone even outside her team were anything to go by.

Deciding to look over the few cards she held of their shared hand, the knight mumbled aloud as he scanned over each card and its attributes mentally as well, "Let's see, you've got Sandstorm, Desert Scavenge... ladies, it's impolite to eavesdrop..."

The two powerhouses of RWBY and JNPR immediately made a not so subtle attempt to lean away from the center of the table where they were trying to listen in and back into their seats whistling; Nora, who was unable to whistle, was making more of what sounded like farting noises.

Each rolling their eyes at their opponent's respective antics, Jaune and Weiss' gazes met before they each chuckled at their shared reaction, the heiress then pulling up a third card she found interesting, "There's also Resourceful Raider-"

"Oh, oh! Resourceful Raider!" Yang interrupted, once again moving towards the center of the table and completely reaching across it to take the card from Weiss' hand, "See, now you can take Ruby's discarded Air Fleet—"

"Nooo!" the crimsonette cried out, bewildered at how the initially entertaining flow of events had somehow completely turned against her.

"—and put it in your hand!"

"Aaaand I think _not_ ," Jaune now retorted, taking the brawler by surprise when he snatched the card out of her hand to return it to Weiss', "You're making this too easy for us to defeat _your_ enemies, _Yang_... I sense a trap."

The brief moment where the two blondes began eyeing each other with suspicious glares giving Weiss the time to actually read her cards for once, she then spoke up.

"I'm not so sure, Jaune... we could mount the offensive against Ruby and Pyrrha, _and_ use the Sandstorm card Vecchian ground advantage to disable Yang's ground forces and simultaneously infiltrate Vale! It'd be a formidable two-pronged attack!"

Both blondes then turned to face Weiss with raised brows, each impressed by the accurate deduction when Ruby's excitement at the observation brought her to exclaim in realization, "Which means you're just three moves away from conquering Remnant!"

Satisfied with her improving strategic gaming prowess, Weiss stood with overjoyed psychotic laughter, "Y-yes! Fear the almighty power of my forces! Cower as they pillage your homes and weep as-"

"Nope. Hold it."

The dark thundering cloud of doom instantly dissipating around her, Weiss visibly deflated with an almost despondent tone in her reply, "What?"

"Still too fishy," Jaune continued, never having taken his eyes off the brawler as they narrowed now into realization, "Yang's been playing us from the start, getting us to make the first moves and capitalizing on our mistakes with counters and traps... all reaction, no real defense. I see your style now..."

And with a knowing smirk, Jaune pulled out a card from his half of the hand and placed it on the table, several eyes going wide at the little black rectangle of plastic now on display for all to see, "I'll draw... _Armistice!_ "

Ruby gasped with building elation, reaching over to pick up her discarded offensive card, "That means, not only do _I_ get to retrieve my lost airfleet, but now Atlas and Vacuo can launch a _joint_ offensive against your ground and air forces while _disabling_ all trap cards for the next turn!"

A slack-jawed Yang simply slumped back into her chair while Pyrrha reached over and rearranged the pieces, effectively removing Mistral from the game while Nora simply gave Jaune a smug smirk with crossed arms, "Welp, that's our fearless leader for ya!"

"Meh, Weiss helped too... kinda..."

" _Hey!_ "

"And it was really thanks to Ruby putting all the pieces in play. Couldn't have done it without the best leader I know, y'know?"

Absolutely beaming at the praise, Ruby actually blushed as red as her cloak as she gushed, "Nooo, you don't mean _thaaat!_ D'ohhh~"

But with a small cough bringing everyone's attention back to the more silent side of the table, Blake was seen silently shrugging impassively at an increasingly impish Ren before he glanced at his leader with a gleam in his eye, "Well played, Jaune. But I believe that's the only counter-cancelling card in the whole deck. How unfortunate... for you."

And with only two more cards played from his hand, Ren had conquered Remnant, mostly everyone else sitting slack-jawed like Yang as they gawked at the four kingdoms now waving Valean banners.

"Not too difficult to understand the mechanics once you get the basics. Elementary, really. Silently watching, waiting... then striking from the shadows."

Weiss simply glared at the two silent ninjas, eyeing each of them in turn before crossing her arms with a huff, "It was a mistake putting you two together. I demand a rematch!"

But surprising everyone, the ravenette who up until then had remained silent simply stood up and pushed in her chair, "Right, well, I think I'm done playing actually. I'll see you guys later."

Nora simply threw up her hands as Blake began picking up her things and leaving before glancing at everyone and giving a one-armed shrug.

"... _Women_."

Ignoring the exclamations from her teammates and the quizzical expressions from his own team - including Nora's shrug and comment - Jaune simply took a moment to regard their little alcove in the library they'd taken to play their game, looking over the shelves upon shelves of books in growing recognition before giving a small scoff in realization.

"Blake."

" _What_."

The catgirl turned to face the knight with a cold, impatient gaze before she could round the corner and escape their line of sight, the young man in question refusing to back down at the intensifying tension and simply steepling his hands at the desk while choosing his words carefully, "I get that there's something on your mind lately... why not share it with us?"

"Yes, come to think of it," Weiss continued in realization herself, pointing at the ravenette indicatively, "Lately you've been quiet, antisocial, and moody!"

"Uh, have you met Blake...?"

"No, this isn't that," Jaune continued, his gaze never having left Blake's even as Weiss and Yang cut in until Blake's amber eyes slowly began to soften at his reply, "This isn't that. In fact, it's worse, because something is wrong enough to continue bothering you. And if it bothers you, it bothers _us_... and we want to help. _I_ want to help."

In the silent moment that followed, Blake merely took a scant few steps back into the area, enough to be just inside the exit to their space before giving a small sigh.

"...Am I truly so transparent?"

"Nope," Jaune replied without missing a beat, instead simply giving her a small, comforting smile, "I'm just paying attention."

Giving an appreciative nod at the knight, Yang turned to face her partner now that she had opened herself up to talking, "So... what's wrong?"

"I just, I don't understand how everyone can be so calm."

Jaune's gaze dropped as he gave himself a minute nod... so the vision _had_ ben accurate... somehow. Had he foreseen the changes he was going to make before they'd even happened again...?

At Blake's words, however, Ruby spoke up while the rest of the teams respectfully listened, "You're still thinking about Torchwick?"

Jaune looked up just in time to see the catgirl subtly avert her gaze from him at the last second before she continued, "Torchwick, the White Fang, _all of it!_ I was lucky to have Jaune with me that night... otherwise things could have been so much worse. But that doesn't change that something _big_ is happening and no one is doing anything about it!"

The knight could relate... in fact, he was still completely stumped as to why the Beacon staff had yet to act himself.

"Yeah, we know," he found himself mumbling without realizing.

"Well if we _know_ , then why don't we do something about it?" Blake retorted, though with less bite than her usual comebacks due to the source.

"Ozpin told us not to worry-"

Yang would've continued her train of thought, but it was lost when the knight couldn't help but scoff aloud. The reaction received a few quizzical glances, but had unknowingly to him garnered a small congenial smirk from the ravenette herself.

Weiss then cut in, now having had some time to gather her thoughts, " _Look_. Why don't we listen to the voice of reason for once, hm? The fact of the matter is... we're students! We're not ready to handle this sort of situation!"

"Well yeah, but..." Ruby began before being cut off by the heiress.

"We're _not_ ready!"

"And we may never _be_ ready! Our enemies aren't just going to sit around and wait for graduation day," Blake now replied, heat finally beginning to grow in her words as she tried to get her point across while gesturing towards the library exit, "They're out there, _somewhere_ , planning their next move, and none of us know what it is, but it's _coming!_ Whether we're ready or not!"

" _Shh!_ "

Blake turned to see a blue-haired teen with yellow goggles giving her an accusatory glare from over his shoulder from a nearby table, three other teens around him that were presumably in his team poring over an assortment of textbooks and comics. She cared for none of it, her ears going flat under her bow as she returned the gesture with a snarl.

" _YOU 'Shh!_ '"

Blake's attention was brought back to her own team in the library corner at the sound of a scroll ringing, the eight students briefly checking the source before it was confirmed to be coming from Jaune's. The knight in question silenced the device before opening it anyway, admittedly curious as to the possible source from within his otherwise meager contact list before noting the familiar sender name.

 _ **[-o-]**_

 _ **TO:** Jaune Arc  
_ _ **FROM:** Ozpin  
_ _ **CC:** Glynda Goodwitch, Q. _

_I do hope you have found your semester break to be as refreshing as you deserve. With current matters no longer able to afford any more reprieve, however, I am afraid to say that there is much to discuss of utmost importance pending urgent attention. I would like to invite you to come to my office - with prior notice of your arrival - as soon as possible during this week, if convenient._

 ** _[-o-]_**

With Jaune temporarily distracted, Ruby was now the one to take advantage of the momentary silence in order to speak up with resolution and excited hand gestures, " _Okay_ , all in favor of becoming the youngest Huntresses... and Hunters... to single-handedly take down a corrupt organization conspiring against the Kingdom of Vale... say _aye_."

A slow but eventual round of affirmative mumbles and nods from Jaune's team while he read the message preceded Yang's reaction of pumping her fist enthusiastically.

"Yes! I _love_ it when you're feisty!"

Jaune looked up to contribute in the discussion, but another blearing ringtone from his pocket had him fighting back the heat rising in his cheeks from embarrassment instead.

"Sorry guys, one sec..."

 _ **[-o-]**_

 _ **TO:** Jaune Arc  
_ _ **FROM:** Ozpin  
_ _ **CC:** Glynda Goodwitch, Q. _

_If inconvenient, come anyway._

 ** _[-o-]_**

"Well, I suppose it could be fun," Weiss concluded, more conviction in her voice.

"None of you said aye!"

"Aye!" Jaune then added, the crimsonette's face positively lighting up as she fist-pumped as well.

But noticing Blake's face invariably doing the same as if she were waiting for his input or something, Jaune watched a larger smile adorning her face before she concluded, "Alright then, we're in this together!"

He had to admit, it was quite an alluring sight whenever the ravenette smiled in earnest, too.

"Let's hatch a plan!" Ruby now proclaimed, smacking her fist against her open palm while getting the double-gun gesture from her sister.

"Yeah!"

"Good luck surviving the rematch, Ren! Vale is going down and we _won't_ underestimate you this time!"

Balking at the realization that her leader had been actually referring to the board game, Weiss audibly facepalmed.

"We're doomed."

Blake shook her head at her team's antics, her mood having been lifted considerably thanks to their support and due in no small part to their sister team's leader who now currently stood from his seat.

"I think Weiss has the hang of it now, I'll have to head out for a bit and might be gone a while, so don't wait up for me," Jaune began slowly as he placed his cards on the table and pushed his seat in, deciding to add a small white lie to assay any prying questions lest they be too difficult to answer, "Uh... family stuff."

Making his way out, he was momentarily slowed by Blake's warm gaze and smile following him before stopping him briefly when he was within earshot of her quiet remark, "Thank you. Again."

Jaune returned her smile, now having ascertained that she no longer felt the same weight on her shoulders as before, "It's like you said... don't wanna lose my team, don't wanna lose this life. And I definitely don't wanna lose you either, Blake. That's just how it is; we trust each other with our burdens and we'll push through it together, because we care about each other."

A flash of a very rare, if unfortunately brief, grin from the catgirl before simmering back down into a content smile at the knight.

The fact that his actions over the past few weeks had backed his words only lent additional emotional impact for the usually reserved young woman, the two having met on a few additional occasions in the ballroom after the night at the docks to spend more time together listening to music and reading books. It'd surprised her how much she missed sharing those hobbies with another, more than aware that she was comparing the knight to her old mentor but aware all in the same that this was entirely different as well. Even if Jaune had a penchant for using antique comic books as reading material.

She'd been sure to change that after the second time or so, anyway. In fact, she was very nearly impressed at how quickly Jaune caught onto the more mature themes and intense plot undertones in the adult reading material she had begun providing him, almost to the level as if he could _relate_ to them... and was further elated to see that while he looked forward to spending time with their teams and his fellow team leader during the day, he seemed just as eager to enjoy the next chapter or volume of whichever novel they were on during the occasional night he'd spend as her reading partner as well, which eventually dispelled any nagging doubts that their newfound habit was a bother to him or that it was from some sort of or racially-influenced pity.

Now... she was not introducing him to _those_ adult novels... but at this rate... who was to say?

Her present reply had as much conviction as he'd had of his words... and of her... from the beginning.

"We do."

The two parted, Jaune exiting the library as a pair of silver eyes silently followed his trajectory after having finished his brief parting words with her teammate.

"Jaune has family?"

" _Duh_ ," Nora retorted at Yang's question, making not so subtle hand gestures involving the intertwining of her fingers as she repeatedly slapped her palms together with meaty smacks, "How else would he have been _born?_ "

Ren merely sighed while covering his face with his palm, "Nora..."

"Actually guys, I'll be right back!" Ruby suddenly blurted, standing from her seat before awkwardly shuffling her way around the table and almost tripping while talking in a hurry, "I, uh, I, think I forgot something somewhere!"

Yang simply chuckled, shaking her head as Blake rejoined the table as a spectator and the teens rearranged the pieces, "Sure, Rubes... meh... Vomit Boy better know well enough to say no if it's this soon..."

Meanwhile, the blur of red sped out towards the library exit, the crimsonette in question eager to close the gap between her fellow leader and nearly bumping into a trio of Haven students as she exited the library.

"Whoops! Sorry! Excuse me!"

And already speeding away in the same direction of the one they were following, the golden-eyed student in the center simply purred out, "Hmm, she has... silver eyes."

"Should we add her to the list?"

The woman paused, a lock of jet black hair covering an eye before she unexpectedly turned to begin idly walking the other way, leaving the somewhat confused silver-haired teen at her other side to shrug at his red-eyed partner inquisitively.

"No... We'll wait and see how they both handle our upcoming plans, first~ Then we'll see if they're worth the trouble."

"Ma'am?"

"I've just noticed... something rather intriguing."

The three faux students walked along past the library, the one in the center sporting a dangerous gleam in her eyes as they disappeared into the evening.

* * *

"Jaune? Jaune!"

The knight turned to see his fellow leader coming up behind him near the courtyard, wide arches and other masonry casting long shadows around the quiet outdoor halls underneath the moonlight. He'd been wondering about the implications of this summon and idly trying to piece together any parallels between this vanguard loop and the original timeline... and was coming up empty, something that had his nerves on edge since it meant going into a new situation - apparently totally new, in any timeline - completely blind. He did his best to quell any growing apprehension as the young woman arrived, hiding his concern under a veil of curiosity instead.

"Ruby? What's up?"

Her conflicted expression not necessarily doing much to help his nerves, he found it somewhat odd that she couldn't exactly bring up her gaze to meet his.

"Well um... I, just wanted to say thanks, for helping us out with Blake back there," she drawled unsurely before her face lit up with what looked to be what she was really trying to say and looking at the knight, "And, I thought you were really cool, in the game!"

"Uh..."

"No no, not what I meant to say," Ruby quickly amended, groaning to herself a the unexpected difficulty her mind was having translating what was in her heart into actual words, "I mean... ugh, your face _so_ isn't helping right now..."

"...my, face?"

"No, I mean it's perfect! I mean fine!" Ruby blurted too quickly, facepalming with rapidly darkening cheeks before huffing out her backup plan in dejection, "I guess I was wondering... you hadn't had a top up for a while, so...?"

Jaune blinked, realizing that it wouldn't actually be a bad idea considering the time lapse since their prior top up, before his face softened into a small chuckle, "So much circling around just to ask for a top up? Ruby, you know you can do it any time without worrying to ask, you're my best friend!"

Her eyes lighting up with increased silvery intensity under the moonlight, her grin proved to be infectious to the knight as she replied, "Really!?"

"Of course. And it's actually not a bad idea; top me up, partner!"

Ruby was only too happy to oblige, relishing in the warmth his Aura provided as they linked their life energies once more and letting her joy run freely through their connection as she let hers intermingle with his and ensure it was at optimal capacity. It seemed to serve as some sort of anchor for him and his semblance... but she'd had to admit that it turned out to be an incredibly euphoric experience for her, so strange yet appealing to the point that she'd longed to be able to hold that warm presence all day if she could get away with it...

So lost was she in the revelry of energy and emotion that she barely felt when it was slowly tapered shut by the knight, her mind brought back to the present when she felt his hand tousling her hair.

"Thanks, Ruby. You really are the best. I'll be back later!"

His warm words preceding his departure towards what Ruby was noticing was Ozpin's clocktower, she could only blink in her indecision over what to do until he walked into the open area by the edge of the courtyard behind the Great War statue and was completely bathed in moonlight.

His armor... clothes... even his hair... they all glinted under the silver moonlight and shone in white. Her breath utterly taken away at the sight of the tall, broad knight... _her_ white knight... as he made his way away from her, she found her little fists balling up at her sides in their own accord. She could tell that by now she might not be the only one noticing how amazing Jaune really was... whether from someone in his team, or her team, or any other, someone else was bound to notice him eventually, whether he had his abilities or not. He was just that kind of guy - a good man not _because_ of his skills, but _regardless_ of them... his accomplishments only made him a little easier to notice by everyone else, that's all.

Which was why even the young woman inexperienced in the ways of life could realize that her window of opportunity wouldn't last forever before someone else took a shot at _her_ bestie...

She had to try. She _had_ to try.

"Confidence, confidence, confidence," she began muttering to herself repeatedly, the knight's words from earlier that day becoming a sort of mantra that seemingly fueled her shaky feet which slowly began taking one step after another with increasing steadiness and speed, "C'mon, Ruby... c'mon... um, Jaune?"

The knight turned again to face her, both teens now in the open and under the moonlight with his face only registering muted confusion at her second attempt to get his attention.

"Hm?"

Confusion turned into surprise when the young woman stood in front of him and boldly took his hands in each of hers.

"Jaune. I told you a long time ago that there probably wasn't a world where we wouldn't get along, remember?"

"...I do."

She nodded with a small smile, affirming his acknowledgement as if she'd already always expected him to remember it, and letting it give her fuel to continue, "And that I knew that you were gonna be a great leader, and that I'd want to be by your side as you changed the world, right?"

"Right."

He watched the young woman take a deep breath as if to calm herself, feeling the comforting warmth emanating from her hands sending waves of inexplicable joy through him. If anything, it was a second of reminiscence of the time they'd spent together over so many loops as trusted friends who'd do anything for each other, in the next second finding his heartrate slowly rising as she shuffled a little closer towards his immediate space.

"Well... I was able to say that cuz, even if I still don't know how, I can't help feeling like you're always gonna be there for us... and for me... even if we never knew each other before Beacon, and even if I'd, well... never met anyone like you before. But I think that's special, cuz I don't think I'm ever gonna meet anyone like you, and I wouldn't wanna have it any other way, wouldn't you?"

Jaune couldn't help but break out in a wide smile at her unbelievably caring words, "Of course."

"So," she breathed out slowly, only momentarily breaking eye contact before reengaging his as her breath left a small mist against the cool nighttime air, "I wanted you to know that I always want us to be friends no matter what happened to either of us before Beacon, and no matter what happens to us from now on... but it's also why I need you to know how I feel about you Jaune, so you can remember that I felt this way no matter _what_ happens to us after Beacon, or even after tonight..."

"Always, Ruby you know I-"

"And which is why I gotta do this-"

Jaune was startled when she suddenly hopped up into his arms, her hands letting go of his to wrap themselves around his neck while his own came up to hold her light frame instinctively without any trouble, any exclamation suddenly cut short when the most peculiar thing happened.

If there was a chill breeze he'd felt or heard before that moment, his skin and hearing had all but gone numb to the air around them as all bodily sensation was now entirely focused on the point where her lips suddenly closed around his, the contact suddenly sending an incredible rush through his body with the softness and faint scent of strawberry he got from her skin. Though she'd puckered up and braced herself for a rough impact against his mouth, she found the result to be quite the opposite as, ever the markswoman, she'd hit her target spot on and found it to be soooo much more tender than firm than she'd ever imagined.

Savoring the new level of warmth and every sensation of her body held in his, Ruby found herself slowly exhaling in pleasure which left her lips soften and sink even deeper against his before the moment finally passed and both teens slowly pulled away with pounding chests and heavier breaths.

"I-I needed you to know... s-so that maybe someday, you decide to let whatever happens to you after Beacon... include me at your side, like this..."

His mind a whirl of sensations and questions and endorphins, Jaune couldn't help but miss the soft presence against his lips that somehow was the only thing that still made any sense, a feeling that had immediately erased the need for questions between them. Alas, he was afforded no such mercy a second time as he was left to babble incoherently.

"I... wh, wai.. I..."

Ruby let herself down, more than aware of the increasing weakness in his body as he tried to process her emotions before she simply hugged him tightly instead, tight enough to feel herself beginning to squeeze out tears of utter joy and elation from her own eyes.

"I love you."

The knight felt his breath completely escape him at her words muttered in her embrace, his arms regaining a mind of their own and immediately wrapping themselves around her as he felt his own chest tighten with unexpected elation.

He'd no idea how he hadn't noticed it from her before... but presented in front of him, he now realized how obvious it should've always been. How obvious.

How _right_.

He nestled his chin onto her hair, lightly turning his head down to plant a soft, tender kiss on the crown of her head as they remained in their embrace... how dense he was not to notice that this had gone undiscovered, unfelt, unsaid for so many loops. And the fact that in some way he couldn't quite place... maybe it was how things were meant to be when it was all said and done.

When Beacon and everyone were finally safe from the grime and filth in this world.

"I love you, Jaune," Ruby finally began again as her head pulled back up to gaze at him with a soul-warming grin, his own eyes glazing over with the emotionally surreal nature of the moment before he could finally regain enough coherency to speak.

"I l-"

And maybe in the end, it was the surreal nature of the moment which aptly made the utter contrast of the sudden shattering sound of an aural construct that much more appropriate to his return to reality.

 _ **shlllick**_

Jaune's eyes widened as Ruby's weapon wielding arm went slack over his shoulder, an all too familiar blade protruding from her own shoulder before flicking up with an audible pop from the crimsonette's shoulder joint in protest before receding and leaving the girl to fall to the floor clutching her mangled shoulder in screamless, stunned pain.

But like the flip of a switch, Jaune was all but screamless and stunned, roaring as he pulsed out a wall of aura to force the mute assailant back and away from her quarry.

" _WHYYYYYY!?_ "

Neo lunged at him, expecting his emotions to have begun meddling with his defensive accuracy by now but floored - literally - then the opposite proved true, the knight having somehow fed aura into his attacks to deflect her small flurry of blows with terrifying speed and power before dazing her when he practically _flicked_ the flat end of the blade like some sort of cane to the side of her head faster than the human eye could perceive.

 ** _shlllick_**

The mute assailant's body curdled and writhed in pain when the strike with the flat end of the blade preceded a stab with its point, deep into her shoulder and practically pinning her where she lay as she sent back a silent roar of agony at her injurer that actually came out at the noise level of a shaky, heavy breath.

"Didn't even have to die _once, you little **insect**_ ," the enraged knight spat out with teeth bared at the assaulter, grinding his blade sadistically into her flesh until hearing the satisfying _pop_ of her own shoulder and drawing it out only to stab at it again, and again, and again with every stressed word, "Just like a _bug_ , even _you_ leave a hint of where you're gonna go since you still move the air around you. So guess _what_. Just like _Dirtbag_ Torchwick, now I know _EVERY_ LITTLE TRICK IN YOUR B-!"

But with his fifth or sixth stab rebounding against the floor, having shattered through an illusion instead of flesh, Jaune growled loudly at his oversight and hastily looked around, sparing a brief glance at Ruby but knowing better than to give the bleeding student his full attention while Neo was still around. Ruby was still paralyzed from the injury, no doubt well into a state of shock, but Jaune's expression shifted somewhat to relief when he spotted a young woman he'd never seen before rush into the clearing.

She had dark, if not entirely black, hair done up in two ponytails as well as green eyes by what he could tell under the moonlight, and while he was somewhat unsettled that her monochromatic outfit with ivory ruffles and accessories sticking out at random locations bore a vague sort of resemblance to a Grimm's hide, he figured it must've been a foreign student thing and ventured it safe enough to drop his gaze down to the pained crimsonette and assess the damage before speaking up.

"Hey, we need your help! We got attacked and my friend is bleeding badly," he began loudly at the foreign student indirectly to indicate a new presence to their attacker and ward off any follow up attack now that there was a third witness on the scene, wrapping Ruby's cloak around her shoulder in a makeshift tourniquet before standing, "Please get her out of here and call for help, I'll stay to make sure you're not followed. And be careful, it's dangerous and I think the attacker might still be-"

Before he could take his eyes off of Ruby and turn back to face the new young woman who'd yet to speak up or otherwise acknowledge his words, he instead saw her eyes widen in utter horror as he felt a thin blade pierce him under the armpit and slice up through flesh and bone in a single clean cut that took his arm clean off its socket.

"...oh."

The knight looked between his exposed, bleeding socket and the young woman who held the telltale chokuto he'd become familiar with to the point of intimacy, at least as far as its intimacy with his innards were concerned, with a quiet _tsk_ at himself for having let his pride affect his guard. Noticing the missing weapon beforehand, or the way her arm lay clearly limp at her side as she made her way over, would've been child's play, otherwise.

Even then, he couldn't help but furrow his brows as he stood between her and Ruby when he noticed her grinning sadistically at his wound.

Needless to say, the mute assassin was utterly and completely taken aback by his reaction.

"pfft... BAHAHAHAHA!"

Jaune's nearly manic chortling echoed throughout the courtyard, Neo actually taking a step back in confusion when he dropped his sword just to cradle his gut as he seemed to be on the verge of tears from his amusement, "You think... _pfft..._ you think _this_ , that _this_ actually MATTERS!?"

"Your face! _Haha!_ What a stupid _face!_ " he continued impishly with another hearty chuckle before wiping a tear from his eye and leaving a smear of mixed blood from the two leaders in its place from where Ruby and he had bled out onto his hand, "You think... you truly _believe_... that this actually makes a _difference_ , oh man that's rich...!"

Neo scowled, readying her weapon and admittedly feeling another surge of heat from her nether regions when he simply raised his only remaining arm out to the side and jut his chin out at her in defiance with The Crazy written all over his eyes.

" _What!_ You wanna kill me? _DO IT!_ " he roared with a grin that was equally mocking and enraged, "Do it so I can come back and take those pretty little pink eyes of yours out myself with my _bare hands!_ "

She couldn't help but pause once again in her tracks... Neo had always laughed her heart out - soundlessly - at idle threats from psychotic marks who knew they had no chance of survival. The futility of it was so ironic that she couldn't help but see the humor in it as she would usually then enact their very threat onto them in some sort of twisted final death wish.

Of course Jaune had now just given her the perfect idea to torture him and that little red riding twig of a woman who'd dared touch _her_ property, but something in his tone sounded so entirely and unequivocally _sincere_ that she couldn't possibly understand how he could still be so convinced after how she'd essentially crippled him. It was both confusing and _oh so arousing_.

Or maybe it was the seldom experienced confusion fueling her arousal... oh, he was just too much fun teaching her so much about herself like this!

Apparently, however, Jaune had had enough of their one-way banter.

"Okay, so you're not gonna kill me?" the knight began with a disturbingly casual tone before grunting as he bent down to pick up his sword in a reverse grip, " _Fine_. I'll do it myself."

 ** _shlllick_**

Neo actually jerked her head back in surprise, eyes widening under furrowed brows as the knight _actually_ ran himself through with his own sword.

Okay. Now that was just plain _weird_.

Positive now that there wasn't some kind of secret semblance or elemental spell that would manifest upon a fatal blow, Neo simply walked up to the dying knight with a cocked brow as he lay sprawled on his side in front of the weakly weeping crimsonette while bubbling out more of his lifeblood onto the school pavement in frothy clumps from his mouth. Skilled as he may be as a swordsman, he was clearly no pro at assassination if he couldn't even take his own life painlessly. What a pity.

Jaune slowly looked up to see the mute assailant's head now block the moonlight above him, catching an almost benign look in her eyes before a slight pressure on the side of his neck preceded the millisecond realization that from a single swift slash, his head was being separated from his body.

* * *

As if only a second later, red swirled back to pale white as eyes opened once more to see a faintly glowing crimsonette in perfect health enjoying the residual effects of the top up with closed eyes. Right now, protecting his best friend - and who knew what other labels applied now, if that last loop was anything definitive to go by - was Jaune's number one priority, even if it now meant facing another round of loops against Neo.

And unlike last time at the docks, this would have to be something the knight did alone, considering what that pint-sized monster deserved for what she'd just done. Jaune wouldn't let anything come to harm the young woman in front of him who's face currently looked nothing short of angelic.

He'd wondered why Ruby looked like this the first time around, but future occurrences considered, he now knew the reason, as well as why this had not been the first time she'd come out of a top up like that, either. It was an expression of total peace and contentment, one with a pretty unique touch of longing that couldn't be faked with something as simple like an unreadable mask often worn by-

Jaune's jaw slowly went slack with the sudden realization that a _very_ similar expression of peace and contentment and longing was often also worn around him in his original timeline... by _Pyrrha Nikos._

 _Of all people._

His realization came out in a long, drawled out remark in utter disbelief, " _Nooo_... **_Wayyy_**..."

So lost was he in the dizzying whirl of self depreciation at having missed something so incredibly _obvious,_ that he barely heard his fellow leader trying to get his attention until she tapped him on the nose the second time.

"Jaune, you okay? You were kinda making a funny face there for a second."

Quickly shaking himself out of it, at least momentarily, Jaune quickly put on his practiced lopsided smile before tousling her hair.

"Never better, all thanks to you, Ruby. You really are the best. I'll be back later!"

His warm words preceding his departure as he headed towards the courtyard, his mind was still dumbfounded about the discovery and its implications before he took a silent sigh in realization.

Sure, Pyrrha had possibly had some feelings for him and his scrawny self, and even before he had any skills to speak of... but that was another timeline. Another reality.

He paused, his feet stopping just short of the end of the final shadow cast by the archways before he could be enveloped by the ample moonlight cast around the courtyard. With a small huff, Jaune recentered his thoughts on the much more recent turn of events.

Right now, Ruby was more important than his conjectures on his partner. Even if this was just another loop, those feelings were current for her regardless. Pyrrha was a past long gone, but Ruby was _real_.

Jaune turned around, walking back to his fellow leader who hadn't moved from where she'd been left and with eyes closed seemed to be muttering to herself with fists balled to her sides.

"Confidence, confidence, confidence..."

"Ruby?"

Needless to say, the effect of his words was immediate as it nearly caused her to jump out of her hood, " _Eep!_ Jaune!"

He couldn't help a small chortle at that, knowing how adorable she could be and beginning to blush as memories of the kiss resurfaced in his mind. As a short silence befell the pair, he scratched as his head as he momentarily tried to put aside their current peril to organize his thoughts and address this situation as best as he could.

"I was just thinking about something... back when you told me a long time ago that there probably wasn't a world where we wouldn't get along, remember?"

Her face lit up, eyes smiling as brightly as her lips in recognition, "Yeah!"

He nodded with a small smile before continuing, "Well... I never got to tell you, how much I'd truly come to believe what you said that night."

"Well, I mean it's just a figure of speech..." she trailed off as Jaune gave her a meaningful chuckle while shaking his head, his own mind coming to realize how much more meaningful her words were becoming even now.

"No... I'm _pretty_ convinced that it'd be the case literally," he replied with a small grin, "And I never got to tell you how much you helped me in the beginning... the _very_ beginning... to give me a chance to believe in myself as a leader and a future hunter before anyone else could."

She cocked her head a bit at the possible undisclosed meaning, but smiled regardless, "I mean, even if I can't really put my finger on _why_... you just seemed like someone cut out for it," she then added with a mischievous chuckle, "even if you had a long way to go."

"Heyyyyy," Jaune muttered in protest, lightly shoving Ruby in the shoulder as they both fell into a warm round of giggles. But taking his hand as it fell, Ruby gave it a small squeeze as she held onto it and continued. Jaune wasn't fazed in the slightest.

"But I knew that you were gonna be a great leader, and also that I'd want to be by your side as you changed the world..."

"Right. And that's why I wanted to tell you," Jaune began, watching the young woman take a deep breath as if to calm herself from her expectations and feeling the comforting warmth emanating from her hands sending waves of inexplicable joy through him at the time they'd spent together over so many loops as trusted friends who'd do anything for each other, "How deeply I feel for having had someone like you in my life."

The knight, while doing his best to keep calm, couldn't help his heartrate slowly rising as he shuffled a little closer towards her immediate space.

"I want you to know that even if we never knew each other before Beacon, the times we've spent together and everything we've all had are things I wouldn't change or want to give up for anything in the world... but it's more so with you than anyone. You believed in me while I was struggling to believe in the impossible. And you stayed by my side until I could finally become the impossible... I wouldn't be standing here if it weren't for you. So I want you to know, I'll _always_ be there for you, Ruby."

He took her other hand, the young girl's eyes shimmering under the dim light in pure happiness.

"No matter what it takes. I promise."

"Jaune, I..." Ruby began with a small crack in her voice before letting out a shaky breath out of the building emotion, "I-I never thought I'd get to meet someone like you before... a-and I wouldn't wanna have it any other way..."

Jaune couldn't help but break out in a wide smile at her unbelievably caring words, gently bending down to bop her forehead with his, "Of course not. You only get one bestie, after all."

He breathed out slowly, only momentarily breaking eye contact before reengaging hers as he watched her breath leaving a small mist against the cool nighttime air, "I wanted you to know that I always want us to be friends no matter what happened to either of us before Beacon, and no matter what happens to us from now on... but after Beacon... heck, maybe even after this year..."

The knight didn't miss how her hands suddenly began instinctively gripping tighter against his, practically to the point he could feel her accelerating pulse against his skin. He'd already meant every word he said, and this only gave him all he needed to know that what he was doing was the right thing.

"I wanna see where this goes... you know, _us_... d'you wanna, give it a sho-?"

" _Yes!_ " the crimsonette practically yelped with the most excitement he'd ever seen from her, quite bodily throwing herself on him in an easily Nora-level sloth hug, "Yesyesyes ohmygosh yes!"

"O-Okay," Jaune grunted under the pressure, though relishing in the warmth from the side of her head pressed against his along with the faint scent of strawberry from her hair until he could bear said pressure no longer, "Kinda... r-restricting some air flow now..."

"Oops," she replied simply, hopping down and holding both hands behind herself while rocking back and forth a bit excitedly, "Hehe..."

Jaune grinned, deciding to go so far as to reach out and brush a lock of Ruby's hair behind her ear before tenderly cradling the side of her face in his hand, "Thanks for today... gotta go now."

The crimsonette simply nodded, watching him with silver eyes that almost sparkled as she nuzzled her cheek a little deeper into his touch. Each leader slowly moving apart, Ruby couldn't help her breath hitching as she saw him walk into the courtyard and into the moonlight where his armor... clothes... even his hair... all seemed to shine white.

Taking the moment to bask in the sight of the tall, broad knight... _her_ white knight someday, if she played her cards right... she giggled to herself as she entertained the thought of how he had the stature and gait of a future Headmaster as he walked towards the clock tower before she finally turned back around to the library.

This had gone _much_ better than she'd originally imagined - she'd neither been too soon nor too late, and she was more than happy to give their friendship time to really grow in the meantime.

The blissful crimsonette even gave herself the liberty of a final bashful smile before opening the library door, mentally checking off the final item that she'd been sure not to show her co-planner from her "borrowed" planner binder.

"Best. Day. _Ever._ "

* * *

"You did the right thing, man. You did the right thing."

Jaune muttered the same thing for the second or third time as he stood near the statue in the courtyard, his earlier mirth having faded moments after Ruby had left.

He did love her, this he knew. In fact, as he'd come to realize before turning back to speak to her, he loved all of them. It hadn't taken too many hundreds of loops after his first day at Beacon to really think about why he was doing this in the first place, and while he'd thought for the longest time that this was about Beacon, justice, or as he'd seldom been so lofty to imagine, the safety of all of Remnant... his spat at the docks had painfully uncovered the fact that he cared for none of it.

Not Beacon, not Remnant, not even the ideal of right and wrong.

He didn't care. All he wanted was his friends to be okay. RWBY, JNPR. No one else really mattered, and in the weeks between semesters he'd only had that realization reinforced, the reality that those seven students were truly the only life he knew. In any timeline.

It kept him going long beyond what his mind should've logically been able to handle, but as long as he could reach another reset point with the ones he loved all alive and accounted for, then Jaune was willing to bear all the world's evils until they could finally live their Beacon lives in peace.

So while he truly loved Ruby, while he couldn't help but notice how their auras hadn't just _happened_ to resonate in a way that healed them, but had resonated ever since the beginning, though time and space... he couldn't let himself feel that way about her.

Not while he couldn't be sure if this timeline would be his last iteration of events, not while he couldn't be sure if that's what whatever higher power there was had meant for him to have when everything was said and done.

But... for the safety of his friends, the knight certainly wasn't going to let anyone stand in his way of finding out.

"Wherever you are, I know you're watching," he began firmly, his voice carrying across the moonlit marble and granite and through the shadows of the archways surrounding him, "Show yourself. No point in surprises."

At that, a young woman walked out from between a few arches in the direction of the clock tower, a look of innocent confusion on her face and a glint of curiosity in her green eyes which only had Jaune's scowl deepen to the point of grinding teeth.

" _Or_ halfassed disguises. That Ursa outfit makes you look _fat_."

A splitsecond glare of genuine offense going over Neo's face, her expression morphed into an insidious smirk as her eyes flicked from green to alternating pink and brown as she flirtatiously flitted her eyelashes at him.

Not biting the bait, Jaune drew his sword but was taken aback when she suddenly blipped out and back into existence in front of him with an expanding lacy parasol that came out of nowhere.

"What the-"

His momentary surprise having cost him, Jaune didn't even get to finish his words before a second teleport preceded Neo forcefully bashing him in the back of the head with the hilt of her chokuto while her parasol harmlessly floated down at his feet.

The knight was out cold before he hit the ground...

Or at least, he'd assumed he must've hit the ground, because when he came to, he was still upright.

Eyes opened slowly to see that his surroundings had suddenly changed entirely, his gaze widening considerably as he realized he was in some sort of warehouse chained to the outside of a small shipping container... shirtless.

There wasn't much to help him gauge his current location; initially believing himself to be in a warehouse near the docks again, he could see outside a large window to his side - he was apparently on the second or third floor of a warehouse - that he was more likely in the Valean industrial district, his eyes narrowing as he watched a group of suspicious individuals hauling in a very large covered metallic object into the side of a neighboring warehouse.

Even in civilian clothes, he didn't miss how every one of them had several Faunus features. Or that they were well armed.

Jaune tried straining against the shackles restraining his arms, legs, and torso, but noticed it gave him very little wiggle room. His imprisoner must've been pretty good with bondage. But it also made him aware of how dirty he felt, his skin nearly crusty in some parts and his hands still sticky from an unknown residue.

Looking around what was apparently a sort of makeshift room consisting of a nearby bed, a mini fridge, and the ridiculously placed container he was chained to all on an upper floor deck area, Jaune finally spotted his gear sitting atop some of his clothes tucked behind the headboard. Looking at his hand and flexing his fingers with a small measure of disgust as the sticky substance seemed to give off a peculiar smell, Jaune coalesced his aura around it and tried using what little momentum it gave to attempt to whisk an aura projection at his gear and grab his sword.

He huffed in frustration when after a few tries, it was apparent that he had too little momentum and that his weapon was too far away. Strangely, he found his mind drifting to his night at the docks and the face of his fellow leader desperately trying to save him...

' _JAUNE ARC YOU SNAP OUT OF IT RIGHT NOW, YA HEAR ME!?_ '

"I must've looked like crap at the time," he quietly lamented at the thought, sighing as he thought to how it must've looked to the young woman who cared for him so deeply.

But he didn't regret it. He'd still have looped back to kill them had it not been for Ruby, or his subsequent promise to Blake, but now that rage served more as a reminder of what was at stake instead of the driving force behind his actions... he cared about his friends too much to give up the very part of himself he'd pledged to them just for revenge for acts that didn't really matter in the end.

However. He'd still search for whoever was responsible for all of this, something he'd realized was much bigger than two petty psychopaths... and possibly... _possibly_ even the White Fang itself.

And he'd make them _pay_.

"Hm."

His mind now taking him to its next train of thought, Jaune found his brows furrowing as he thought once more back to the night at the docks when he'd blacked out. Come to think of it, Ruby had often gushed afterwards about how that weird new girl somehow seemed to easily fight off hordes of White Fang with swords that she assumed were attached to the ends of a sort of aural strings.

 _Strings_.

Jaune had often chuckled to himself at the incredulous probability of finding himself at the mercy of a student fighting with aural strings as he practiced manipulating real ones with his semblance. He couldnt help but see the situational irony in that, but _now_... it gave him an idea.

"Hmm."

Glancing back at his hands with renewed concentration, Jaune licked his lips - which he suddenly realized were also slightly coated with that same smelly substance - as he willed his aura around his hand and pursed all five fingers around a single point aimed at his sword before spinning them in tandem.

With the mental image of a spider slowly weaving its silk, he was delightfully rewarded as his aura complied, coalescing around the tips of his fingers in a slowly rotating funnel before it began reaching out as a shining white string. He couldn't help a small grin as the string began reaching much further than his projections could go, and would've reached the hilt of his weapon...

Had it not been for the sudden sounds of someone coming up the old iron staircase at the far side of the room in front of him.

His stomach fell at the sight of the pink and brown hair bobbing up and down as his captor skipped up the staircase into view, but his temper flared at the sight of what she was wearing...

 _His_ sweater... and apparently not much else.

"What the flying _Grimm_ , that's my _sweater!_ Where am I!" he growled out, suddenly stopping as his thrashing made him acutely aware of a lack of pressure down under and eyes going wide as saucers when he looked down, " _And why are my PANTS unzipped!?_ "

His only reply was the young woman cheerily waving hello before cheekily pointing at his nether regions with a so-so hand gesture... before slowly making it a thumbs up with an approving smirk and nod.

"So Blake's murder at the docks was _your_ idea..."

Ignoring the heat rising in his cheeks, he was about to snap a few choice words at the psychopath when the words stopped cold at the assassin's idle action of flipping open the mini fridge and bending down with her derrière perfectly aligned to him as his sweater rode up to expose what was underneath.

Jaune could only blink as Neo shut the door and stood up with a cruel smirk on her face and a single-serve cup of ice cream in her hands, the utterly gleeful glint in her eyes her acknowledgment that she now knew it was the first time the knight had lain eyes into the depths of a woman's... womanhood.

So much for Schroedinger's Panties. Even the Pumpkin Pete logo on the sweater now seemed to stare back at him with a taunting mirth.

Anger now mixed with a slightly increasing sense of alarm, Jaune began thrashing again as she simply teleported over to the bed, now seated on the mattress with legs crossed over the edge towards him as she popped open the top and undid the attached plastic spoon to begin her snack from maybe three or four feet in front of him.

He glanced at the shackles when forcing out his aura in a pulse didn't do anything, slowly realizing that sudden bursts were somehow dampened by the material that seemed to absorb aural activity over a certain level.

"What _are_ these things?"

Neo's only reply being the _very_ deliberate slow uncrossing of her legs, causing Jaune to unconsciously gulp as he once again caught sight of the assassin's open, well-trimmed mound, she took a spoonful of ice cream before standing with the spoon in her mouth and taking the step or two left to close the space between them.

Jaune's entire body lurched to the side when Neo leaned down, with ice cream still on her tongue, and licked him from the waistband all the way up to just below his chest.

" _Don't you touch me!_ "

With rage rising, Jaune leveled the offending assassin with a death glare, the young woman's grin widening in seeming proportion with his growing anger as she tossed the ice cream cup behind her and let her hands settle tantalizingly slowly on each side of his waistband.

" _Let me Go!_ " Jaune now practically screamed out, his alarm quickly morphing into sheer fury as she began applying light pressure downwards on the elastic of his underwear, " _I said **STOP!**_ "

The pulse of white aura that somehow still managed to manifest caught the young assassin off guard, even though it hadn't been nearly enough to push her even halfway back to the bed, and it only seemed to fuel her elation as her eyes each settled on pink at the fallen knight of madness.

"You wanna kill me!? _DO IT!_ " he roared as she simply closed the gap to flirtatiously wrap an arm around his waist, not even bothering to hide her evidently growing lust as she licked her lips and closed in to his waistline.

He thrashed violently the moment she came close enough, wondering if that had been the reason why she started planting small kisses upwards on his now well-toned torso - thanks to continuous rigorous training over the past few months - instead of downwards, yelling with even more impetus as he tried bucking as much as his confines would let him.

"Stop it with these stupid _games!_ Just kill me now so I can come back and _rip your worthless **throat out!**_ "

She paused only to look up and give him a predatory grin before returning to her ministrations on his chest and now to his shoulder, the knight yelling in pain when her other arm suddenly came up on his other side to forcefully yank his head back by the hair and expose his collarbone to her.

The body heat coming off this demented woman was tremendous by now, but Jaune's skin suddenly ran ice cold when he realized the heat was also due in part to _aura_ \- the pinkish aura unwittingly surrounding the hand which had the side of his head in a vice-like grip...

And the other she'd just placed on his chest.

"No..." Jaune practically whispered in muted terror as he felt her aura drawing out his and beginning to intermingle, "N-No, _no!_ "

Neo paid his words no heed, making her way across his collarbone towards his neck as he could practically sense his semblance slowly resetting to this very moment.

"No! Stop, _STOP!_ " he continued as the first long kiss was planted on his neck... eyes watering as he realized he was already too late, " _NOOOOOOOOOO-!_ "

But his voice suddenly going hoarse and cutting out completely, Jaune felt a dull crunch in his neck and a searing pain briefly shooting up and back into full-body numbness aside from the sensation of some sort of liquid now cascading all over his abdomen.

With eyes slowly clouding over in death, all Jaune could do was watch the young woman in front of him slip her now sticky hand up from underneath his sweater to dip two fingers into her mouth now sticky with his blood...

All before pulling them out perfectly clean and placing that index finger to her pursed lips with a heavy exhale which came out as the closest thing to a real word he'd ever hear her use.

'Shhhhh...'

* * *

 **A/N:** _So, here's the thing._

 _I don't wanna come across as Johnny Raincloud, but I also know I'm spoiling people with these monster chapter lengths and I don't want anyone to get used to it cuz... well, some of the next chapters may only be like half as long or something! However, a lot had to happen in this chapter, going back to the second or third author's note I added to this story - there are multiple pairings, but it's not a harem. I mean, it is in a way, but kinda not. And as this arc gets started, you'll soon start to see why it also kinda maybe is._

 _What IS a harem, anyway?_

 _Meh. I digress._

 _So, did anyone think I'd actually give Jaune a actual full chapter of actual fluff after a previous chapter like that!? ***Laughs a robust Professor Port laugh*** hahaHAH, my dear readers, he shan't have it! He shan't!_

 _However... things will get interesting, so stay tuned for the next chapter._

 _* **Fun fact:** Ren was actually supposed to use cucumbers in the original food fight animation, but the idea ended up getting the axe because... well, cmon. Also, Remnant historical scholars (cough cough RT) agree that Ren could've won against Yang in the canon food fight had it not been for the generous momentary upskirt flash in midair. And there you have it, folks - facts of the day.*_

 _In any case, leave a **Fave, Follow, and Review** if you haven't already since all support is appreciated for a slowly recovering writer like myself. Many of your reviews kept me motivated to make my return to writing more permanent, and I can't tell you how much all 800 of them have meant to me since the beginning. So to all you readers: Peace, Love, and all of the above!_

 _ **And Happy Reading!**_

 _ **P.S.  
** Ah. And a final note for those who fear that the story may become too dark to handle:_

 ** _Attendre, et_** _ **espérer.**_


	15. A Not So Minor Hiccup

_**A Not So Minor Hiccup**_

* * *

It was... too much.

The pounding in his head, the ringing in his ears, the sick clammy feeling all over his skin... he felt like a corpse and he had yet to even die again. Just the infernal sounds of long sloppy kisses and suckling filling the large room was enough to grate every one of his senses in the few extra seconds of time he could buy by simply staying still.

What made matters worse was how even his very own body slowly began to betray him at the extended periods of the assassin's ministrations... whatever she was doing, she was _very_ good at it. But it couldn't be helped, the pain in raging against it was too much; somehow compounding much like it had while he spent loops unexpectedly dying from what turned out to be Roman's sniper attack - no doubt a previously unknown form of Melodic Cudgel to the knight - Jaune's mind was in too much of a throbbing haze to resist anymore.

It likely had something to do with the fact he'd died several dozen times in the real life timespan of only roughly thirty seconds with his crazed thrashing, threats, and rage.

There simply wasn't enough time... having reset his revival point to mere seconds before death while chained to aura dampening shackles, Neo had effectively cut off any manner of resistance, construct, or trick up the knight's sleeves with which he could've escaped. He had no idea how she knew how to do that... but the fact it happened at all only fed his fury. Thus, anger at her, at the situation, and at himself had fueled a raging mental episode that only ended in his gory demise again. And again. And again.

But after his death in the previous loop involving the horrid gouging of his eyes with the attached plastic single serve ice cream cup spoon, he simply didn't have it in him anymore to continue like that. It was as if Neo had finally somehow managed to kill off a very part of him.

He just didn't know which part yet. His head hurt too much to think on it.

In fact, so much so was the pain veiling his perception that it took roughly another half minute to notice that the impetuous encroachment into his intimate space had come to a stop, the fallen knight finally opening his eyes to see his captor standing two or three feet directly in front of him returning a neutral gaze under slightly furrowed brows. It was an odd expression from her - a subtle mix of annoyance, curiosity... and maybe even concern.

"What," Jaune tried to reply with a bite in his tone, finding it odd that he currently seemed incapable of it anymore from sheer fatigue, "You're giving me a headache... just, do whatever it was you were gonna do. I'm tired."

With a sigh, Jaune let his head loll back and closed his eyes. Something was amiss... he should've been angry, but he was just so past done with this situation that he needed time to think. Something next to impossible at the moment due to the currently throbbing headache.

Once again... another simple detail that _should've_ angered him more. But he was simply too tired to think on it.

Such was his lethargy that Jaune offered no resistance when his head was roughly grabbed and slowly brought up to meet Neo's unexpectedly hard, scrupulous gaze a few inches from his own. An idle thought passed through his mind wondering about how they could look eye to eye like this despite the usual height difference, a second idle thought reminding him that with his legs shackled so far apart like this, he was actually much closer to the ground than if he were standing upright.

The knight only blinked at the intrusion into his personal space, and only blinked a second time when her gaze softened into something he couldn't quite read before she lifted her second hand to his head - lightly glowing in pinkish aura.

"A...ah-" was all the knight could eke out before the effects set in; it was by no means a shift in reset point with both hands on his head like this, but it did have the effect of clearing away the pain in his head... as well as unwittingly activating an aural connection as his vision grew a light pink haze around the edges.

 _A train. Screeching wheels. A cramped train cab with crates._

 _Yang sprawled on the floor, unconscious._

The surprise was subtle, dampened maybe, but Jaune didn't want to be taken out of this trance, so he traced a little further down this aural string.

 _A portal. Red, out of nowhere._

 _Fear. Genuine fear._

Jaune let in a breath he'd forgotten to inhale... it was fear coming through the connection. Fear from _Neo_.

He couldn't tell if this was past or future, but whoever the creator of the portal was, Jaune made a mental note to have a few words with them should he get the chance. He could learn a thing or two from them.

As subtly as it began, Jaune now felt the connection tapering off, and was utterly surprised to see the young assassin giving him a smug, knowing smirk with his realization that his mind was completely clear now.

"How... why?"

Smacking her lips in annoyance, Neo simply motioned at her head before gesturing back at him with an incredulous expression.

"You don't... know what I'm doing?"

Rolling her eyes, she motioned at _his_ head before gesturing back at him more strongly with the same expression.

"You," Jaune drawled, his expression falling at the implications of what he was implying that she might be implying, "You _do_ know what I'm doing!?"

Neo's jaw slowly slackened as she stared at him like he was some kind of idiot, motioning back and forth between them emphatically before suddenly pausing and throwing up her hands in a signal that she was done with this. Walking over to the other side of the bed, Neo opened a small nightstand to pull out a small black scroll, typing into it as she walked back around the bed before shoving the completed message on screen into Jaune's face.

 _ **[-o-]**_

 ** _It's no fun if you're not mentally engaged during this part. Duh._**

 ** _[-o-]_**

Jaune blinked at the screen for a few more seconds before glancing back at the mute assassin who was now staring at him with raised brows indicatively.

"...I still don't get it."

Neo facepalmed.

* * *

He had no idea how or when it happened.

But apparently Jaune died, as was his deduction when the room swirled back to when Neo was still busy planting kisses and hickeys along his waistline.

The knight glanced down at the head of brown and pink hair working itself tantalizingly lower towards its end goal underneath his boxers, and finally realized what was amiss when he looked back up and straight ahead upon noting that what should've registered as anger merely became a deeply sickening feeling in his stomach instead.

 _'You fail to perceive the nature of these sessions yet again, Mister Arc. Whether or not your body returns with you upon reset, your mind does. As will any trauma associated with it. So believe me when I tell you, and I will only tell you once: Train your mind even harder than your body. For whatever injury it sustains upon death, though merely figurative, it may very well manifest physically upon your reawakening. In other words, even if the pain is psychological... your mind makes it real.'_

He recalled Glynda's words during their weekly one on one sessions in lieu of combat class throughout the first semester after the field trip incident at Forever Fall, but now understood the implications all the same. Jaune had reached his limit... whether it was the limit of his body or his semblance, he couldn't recall; he wasn't really paying attention back then.

Mostly because he still hated her guts at the time.

Still, here he was... his mind at a loss and his body conditioned to reject an emotion that would merely cause it further distress, even if indirectly. He let his head loll back to consider the possibility as he stared at the ceiling and silently thanked his Headmaster of all people who'd somehow prescribed such a hellish side-course with the foresight that something like this might occur someday. In fact, something similar happened to his psyche when he was getting sniped over and over without realizing why... but Jaune now couldn't help wonder why something like this hadn't manifested during the months at the docks.

"I had direction; I had purpose... I had hope," Jaune barely whispered aloud, his thoughts louder than his words with the weight of the facts now emerging.

This realization came at about the same time he realized Neo had stopped her ministrations, the knight finally bringing his head back up to see his captor standing two or three feet directly in front of him returning a neutral gaze under slightly furrowed brows. It was an odd expression from her - a subtle mix of annoyance, curiosity... and maybe even concern.

"What," Jaune tried to begin, realizing that he was completely blanking on whatever he'd said last time due to his headache before simply winging it impassively, "You're giving me a headache... just, whatever. I'm thinking."

With a sigh, Jaune let his head loll back and closed his eyes.

Now came the part where he tried to figure out just what on Remnant Neo was trying to do here in the first place. The fact she'd been able to restrain him so completely like this was concerning enough, but the addition of a reset-inducing aural connection was a much more dire situation completely. The effects to his efforts could be extreme if someone like her got the gist of his abilities, and his current impotence for rage lest his body enter a state of shock aside, his need to understand this situation more completely came to the fore even as his head was roughly grabbed and slowly brought up to meet Neo's unexpectedly hard, scrupulous gaze a few inches from his own.

He gazed intently as her initial reaction of letting her bottom lip jut out by just a few millimeters in her doubt of his condition led to her eyes beginning to narrow in growing suspicion.

"You were thinking of helping me by taking away my headache, weren't you?" he began, his tone devoid of any anger whatsoever but firm nonetheless even in the face of possible danger and immediate execution, "You brought me here without any real reason. You cuff me with crazy super-chains without any sign of an interrogation. You want me to be completely aware of everything you do to me... _why?_ "

Neo had taken a step back at the inherently authoritative tone of voice despite his position as if he weren't humiliatingly shacked at all, her cocked brow rising a bit higher and higher with every question before she finally gave him a knowing smirk with wiggling brows.

"Don't play coy with me. Just tell me."

Jaune watched, brushing aside his momentary confusion with annoyance as the young woman slightly narrowed her eyes at him with an incredulous gaze before slowly nodding her head and gesturing between them once more.

" _Ugh_ ," Jaune groaned with growing annoyance, aware that his stomach was already sinking uncomfortably again at the possible onset of anger before simply continuing, "How am I supposed to understand what you're even trying to _communicate?_ You even activated your friggin _Aura_ on me, for Oum's sake! WHY?"

Neo's jaw slowly slackened as she stared at him like he was some kind of idiot, raising a hand with glowing aura and motioning back and forth between them emphatically with the other before suddenly pausing and throwing up her hands in a signal that she was done with this. Walking over to the other side of the bed, Neo opened a small nightstand to pull out a small black scroll, typing into it as she walked back around the bed before shoving the completed message on screen into Jaune's face.

 _ **[-o-]**_

 ** _For my own PLEASURE, you moron._**

 ** _[-o-]_**

Jaune blinked at the screen for a few more seconds before glancing back at the mute assassin who was now staring at him with raised brows indicatively.

"... _What!?_ "

Neo facepalmed.

* * *

Going through the same motions a second time was even more incredibly annoying, as the knight came to realize after apparently dying once again faster than he could even perceive.

"You were thinking of helping me by taking away my headache, weren't you?"

But this time, as with all previous loops, he began to perceive more... like how despite the unspeakably gory results his prior rage had revealed this young woman to be capable of, his actions after being physically rendered impotent to expressing wrath had led to him being handled in a way that was almost... humane?

He quickly brushed aside the thought, unwilling to look at this person in any other way than the monster she'd proven herself to be. He... couldn't be wrong about something that should've seemed so obvious!

So without wavering, Jaune simply continued questioning, "You brought me here without any real reason. You cuff me with crazy super-chains without any sign of an interrogation. You want me to be completely aware of everything you do to me... _why?_ "

He noticed this time how Neo had taken a step back, her cocked brow rising a bit higher and higher with every question as he spoke. He figured it was likely confusion on her part, but in reality he'd simply stopped caring about his current state long ago. The idiocy of this situation in itself and the fact that there seemed to be no purpose to any of it was _beyond_ aggravating.

At least, that was before she game him a knowing smirk with wiggling brows.

"Don't play coy with me. Just-"

Jaune suddenly cut himself off... with his gaze ever so slowly zeroing in on her as the cusp of discovery began to blossom in the back of his mind, his head seemed to be making more and more of an angle as if trying to literally wrap itself around the possibility.

"You mean... you're doing this... for _you._ Not because of what I've done to you guys, or what I can do... but for, your own _pleasure?_ "

Her widening smirk and dangerous gleam in her eyes was more than enough acknowledgment.

"With... with," Jaune continued anyway, more certain of his answer but his voice losing its certainty as he glanced down at the bulge in his undergarments indicatively, "W-With _this?_ "

The smirk grew into a predatory grin, Jaune merely blinking at his captor as it finally dawned on him.

He whispered to himself in a near state of awe, "She knows..."

It was almost impossible to believe, that with his idea of her being what it was, but now...

"She knows absolutely nothing..."

"..."

No sooner did Neo begin reaching her arms out to claim her prize directly now that her prey was fully aware of his dire predicament when she was practically frozen stiff at the sound of his utterly unexpected burst of raucous laughter.

Not crazed or manic laughter, as she promptly realized and was made even more confused by it... actual, _genuine_ laughter.

"Oh _man!_ What on... _wow_ , haha!... what on Remnant are the odds of this happening!" Jaune continued, feeling he was about to bust a gut at the strangeness of the situation before directing himself to her with tears of mirth in his eyes, "I mean, I thought... _pfft_... I can't _believe_ I got so bent up about...! ohmygah... I-I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

It was a reminder to him that had long been coming, and not a moment too soon.

Trying to wipe his eyes on the skin of his shoulder while waving his hand at the stunned assassin in a placating gesture, which didn't have much of an effect considering the fact it was still shackled, he continued so as not to come across as so indecent, "Maybe I'm losing my mind, but I... I just realized I've been making _the biggest deal_ out of something and tossing my brain in a blender just because of what... of _what?_ What I think of you?"

Was she a psychopath? Yes. Was she dangerous? Yes. Was she terrifying? Oh, yes.

But was she an actual _threat?_ Just the thought was threatening to have the knight erupt in another fit of laughter at his own failure to keep a level head here.

Just who _was_ she then, in all this? In the grand scheme of things?

She knew nothing, like all the lynchpins of the future attack on Beacon surely didn't... but with that in mind, Jaune found himself the butt of a joke only he knew with the realization that he'd wasted so much time and energy focusing on a _version_ of a person at the docks whose actions never actually happened. Even a version of a person whose current actions in this very room would _never_ happen, if he had anything to say about it.

It was all a joke. A twisted, silly joke that he'd only until now stopped taking himself so seriously as to laugh at.

And it now felt like it had just taken the whole weight of the world off his shoulders...

Jaune sighed in satisfaction as he let his head drop forward from being so tired. Who _wouldn't_ feel happily relieved after regaining some positive perspective for once? And all things notwithstanding, he was _so_ past fed up with this melodramatic phase, anyway.

She was just another Roman way back at Forever Fall. That was just a setback, one that while learning his abilities he'd learned to have fun with as well. No different than now; this was just another loop.

"Look, _wow_... I gotta apologize. _I_ interrupted you, you were doing something that honestly was probably gonna make _me_ feel as good as you, so you just perv your little heart out and I'll make sure to circle back to this later so nothing ever happens," the knight continued light-heartedly with his head dipped forward to mask his returning attention to the location of his weapons, looking back up at her with a broad smile only to slowly pause upon seeing her, "So let's just... what?"

He looked over the young woman who was simply staring at him with an oddly neutral and somewhat slack-jawed expression with a rising blush in her cheeks, not exactly the reaction he'd expected.

In fact, it was almost strange now noting how Neo could go from something so barbaric to almost... innocent, or dare he say even _Ruby_ -like... at the drop of a pin. But in the end, there was the overarching fact that even if this was a sort of façade to get the better of him, there was ultimately no lasting harm that this person could do to him - and the effect of the reminder was soul-cleansingly refreshing.

So as if he were even speaking with one of his own friends, Jaune merely returned her gaze with a broader reassuring grin, "What? You okay?"

The effect was immediate: her slacked jaw widening into an open mouthed smile, Jaune stared somewhat perplexed at how Neo practically looked like a little girl at this point before she suddenly turned and hopped across the bed - no need to describe the effect of his sweater riding way up and exposing the entire lower half of her bare body to him as she landed on the mattress - to reach into her nightstand.

While there was the momentary concern that all previous visits to said nightstand was the effect of a frustrated, and possibly sexually frustrated, Neo at her wits end who was ready to end his life in but a moment, Juane couldn't help cocking a brow when instead of only her scroll, the assassin pulled out a very old-looking yellowing piece of letter paper.

Flipping over on the bed, and well aware of the fact she was once again flashing him going by he small smirk accompanied by just as small of a blush now, Neo scooted over to his side before standing and holding the front of the folded paper up for him to see. By this time, Jaune no longer had any qualms about looking at Neo's body if she was being so open with it, but in turning to see the paper depicting the small caricature of a stick figure with a sword and shield and heart surrounding the whole figure with the drawn skill of maybe a very young girl, Jaune let out a hum in thought.

"What's this?"

It was odd, and he didn't want to jump to any conclusions or sound presumptuous... but it almost felt like he was looking at a drawing of some sort of _knight_.

His answer came when she happily obliged by opening the paper and showed him the five bulleted sentences scrawled inside, clearly showing the handiwork behind this paper craft to be from the hands of an apparently much younger Neo.

" _He Who Will Be Mine_ ," Jaune began aloud, pausing with a slight gulp and turning his gaze to face her with a raised brow, "You want me... to read this?"

The situation had certainly flipped quickly.

She nodded enthusiastically with a small smile which Jaune was quickly finding to be so far beyond out of what he expected her character to be, he could only nod unsurely before turning to read the first bulleted sentence.

"One. _Must have known life without the luxury of protection. Like me, must be from outside the kingdoms_..." Jaune glanced at the content assassin in curiosity, "You think I'm...? How'd you know I'm from outside the kingdom?"

And snapping her fingers as if realizing something herself, Neo turned back towards his gear tucked beside her bed before quickly trotting over daintily and bending down to pick it up. Jaune no longer made an effort to gaze away from the show, instead cocking a brow when she picked up Crocea Mors in its sheath and held it up towards him before knocking on it with her fist and pointing outside the window as if to some far away place.

"So... you're saying my weapon had to have been made from way outside Vale? Well I guess you're right; not to say I remember where I was born exactly, but I'm pretty sure I get the feeling it was definitely not in a kingdom."

A quick nod in reply, and a widening smile from the young woman as she heard Jaune's confirmation of her observations.

However, Jaune's mind was already in another place: Neo had just given him access to his weapon within Aura-hand reach. If he wanted, he could simply snatch it now and spend a few loops from this point trying to figure out just how he'd use it to free himself before escaping. There was nothing to really stop him now, except...

Neo.

This wasn't the person he'd expected her to be. Gazing back on her genuine smile with as neutral an expression as he could afford with the cloud of thought over him, he couldn't help but notice that this was a side to her he'd never seen. A side beyond the fighting. Perhaps... a side that would have never been changed by the fighting, if things weren't the way they were, and the fighting had never happened.

Of course, there was no way to change the past now, but there were certainly lessons he could glean from it. Like how his previous conjectures on the depth of this whole plot against Beacon was starting to seem more and more accurate... Neo wasn't a mastermind. In fact, she barely seemed like a henchman, keeping the mooks he'd already faced in mind. So Jaune set himself to finding out who was really pulling the strings, beyond the White Fang, beyond even Roman perhaps...

And that involved staying right where he currently was if he'd have a chance to learn something that no one else even in Beacon likely knew yet.

"Oh, okay. So, what's the rest of the paper say?"

Small smile still in place, she held up the paper once more for him to read.

"Two. _Must be insatiable; a lover of flesh and carnage, be it with a weapon, a spoon, or_... wait, what?"

Jaune peered over the paper at her only to spot the young woman grinning hungrily at his nether regions, the knight rolling his eyes as he whispered to himself but unable to keep the object of her attention from twitching at the thought of her, "Lewd... how old were you when you wrote this thing anyway...?"

But still, unable to resist voicing his curiosity after rereading the sentence, he did grant himself the liberty of asking aloud, "But... what if I'm a vegan-?"

* * *

Jaune's eyes opened to the sounds of soft kissing and suckling through the air, his jaw slackening with a scandalized expression as he slowly lowered his head to the unknowing young woman at his waist and realized his loop count had just gone up by one.

" _Opinionated_ much, aren't we?"

 _A few minutes later..._

"One. _Must have known life without the luxury of protection. Like me, must be from outside the kingdoms_..." Jaune glanced at the content assassin, cocking a brow at his recollection of her astute abilities of observation, "Figured it out, huh? I'm guessing from my weapon..."

Neo gave him a smug grin, nodding in affirmation.

"Clever. Any idea where it came from?"

Jaune watched as the silent young woman looked up in thought, lips pursed to the side with an expression of concentration he found himself uncomfortably admitting was attractive before she glanced back at him with an idle shrug and gesturing her free hand up and behind her shoulder a few times. Slowly, he realized he was catching on to her style.

"So, not sure on location, but it was the kind of weapon made a long, long time ago?" a single, impressed nod at the successful exchange of silent communication, "Fair enough. What's the rest of the paper say?"

Small smile still in place, she held up the paper once more for him to read.

"Two. _Must be insatiable; a lover of flesh and carnage, be it with a weapon, a spoon, or_... right..."

Jaune peered over the paper at her only to spot the young woman grinning hungrily at his nether regions, sighing to himself but aware of how he let her enjoy the sight a little longer before glancing back up at him realizing that her ogling had apparently received some form of tacit consent for a time.

Still, he shook his head with a small smirk and scoff, "Lewd."

She preened at the insult as if she were receiving some type of compliment before Jaune rolled his eyes and kept reading.

"Three. _Will be under my control, so must be younger than me_... wait, h- ...how old _are_ -?" Jaune began in question after reading the phrase with growing curiosity, but quickly reading the room and Neo's dangerously calm gaze, he wisely chose to cut himself off, " _Nevermind_. Next item..."

He missed the small smirk on the girl's face as he read, "Four. _Must be fearless, with a mind as sharp as his blade; a hunter of man and beast who can take down even the largest Grimm with me_."

That... was actually a pretty decent requirement.

"Okay, two things," Jaune noted aloud, Neo paying attention as he spoke, "First. Why the big Grimm? Not sure what you get out of that..."

The universal finger-rubbing hand sign was soon to come up even before he'd finished speaking, his question answered once more without a single spoken word.

 _Money_.

...So _that's_ what she did when she wasn't murdering babies or something, if villainy was her previous line of work at all?

"So let me get this straight... you're a Grimm-hunting merc. And that's all you did before getting involved with the likes of Roman?" Jaune could literally feel his jaw slowly loosening in slack as Neo simply gave a short unsure nod before glancing at him and continuing to nod a bit more in earnest; even if he could tell there must've been some likely ugly exceptions that she was choosing to leave out, he was still floored that this person in front of him wasn't some sort of murdering killmonger, "I'm... actually really surprised. I expected something, I dunno, _worse_ , considering... you know..."

He meant to glance at her indicatively as he'd tried fumbling through his thoughts without losing his head - literally - but instead found himself face to face with a single digital phrase he'd never forget.

 _ **[-o-]**_

 ** _Bad thoughts attract bad realities, babe ;)_**

 ** _[-o-]_**

Jaune gaped at the screen.

Jaune gaped at the writer of the phrase, who only returned a matching wink of her own with her signature smirk.

Jaune gaped at the screen.

It made... an amount of sense that he knew she couldn't have known about him and his tendencies or experiences with her, but held an inherent amount of wisdom which reshaped his perspective on his past few months of life. The fact it came from someone like _Neo_ was initially dumbfounding for the knight, considering all the advice he'd received from wizened counsellors and close friends that sufficiently dipped just under the surface of what he was going through in reality... but this had gone straight to his core.

Nonetheless, it did make sense after a minute.

If she'd no reason to lie and just told Jaune the truth... she'd spent more of her life around _Grimm_ than around people. With a semblance like hers... who _wouldn't_ pay for that kind of fast-kill service? And while it didn't seem like much, Jaune could recall times during initiation and the field trip fighting Grimm for figurative days on end where he felt the same effects grip him; the feeling of not just losing a bit of humanity upon facing the hordes of darkness, but relishing in the baseness of human instincts and carnage as he did with the knowledge that he'd be soon to die anyway. There were no limits, no cap to the slaughter once the risk of immediate death was removed, thanks to his Semblance.

Was hers so different in that regard?

Of course, Neo's proclivities had taken a darker turn as her missions surely involved a few human targets over time, no doubt, as well as Faunus, and the gaze the two traded after Jaune's previous words was enough to tell him that there was no need to ask if she was lying and that it wouldn't have mattered anyway whether or not she went into detail.

But for some reason, he could see her as someone who was willing to be paid to remove only the more _troublesome_ humans and faunus, monsters in their own right... and to her, likely not a far stretch from being considered Grimm themselves.

"Alright," Jaune nodded, conceding the point that she'd made and he'd found himself wholly agreeing with, and finally reconciling in his mind that he'd always been marked to kill by her - either by forcing her into self-defense or becoming the animal she was hardwired to exterminate, "Then two. Why'd you think I'd ever killed big game before? Aside from a few Ursae and Beowolves in Forever Fall, the biggest thing me and my team took on was during initiation when we killed a Deathstal-"

Interrupted again mid-speech, the knight was greeted with the sight of a now _very_ popular Dust-tube video of him and Ruby tag-teaming a Giant Nevermore decapitation in midair with millions of views. In fact, the view count went up by at least another three views while watching the few seconds of footage, even if it were originally filmed months before.

"Wow, I... was thinking of the wrong timeline. You got a link of that you can send me-? _ow_."

Jaune winced when Neo rolled her eyes with a silent scoff and flicked him in the head with a mischievous smirk, holding up the paper indicatively for him to read the final part.

"Fine, fine," Jaune relented, finding an idle thought wandering to how things might have gone if their paths had crossed as friends instead of adversaries before turning his full attention to the last line, "Five. _Above all, symptoms of The Crazy is a must; however, one who also has a pure and innocent smiling face would be nice_... oh..."

It... actually all made sense now.

Jaune simply blinked at the young woman currently giving him a ghost of a bashful smile, actually catching how one set of her toes nervously fiddled over the others on her bare feet below from his peripherals before silently seeming to catch herself and quietly clear her throat before closing the paper again and idly sitting cross-legged on the bed with all the dangerous confidence she ever had.

The knight found himself actually distracted and inexplicably warmed by the sight for the first time until realizing that the young assassin had been glaring at him expectantly for several seconds already.

"Wait, you... you want me to say something?" Jaune asked unsurely, Neo slowly nodding in obvious amusement as a hint of a blush in humiliation began creeping up his neck and cheeks at having been caught staring so candidly, "Well I mean, I don't really know what to say... you, wrote what you wrote, and yeah I'll admit there might be some similarities there..."

By staring at the ceiling in his desperate attempts to phrase his thoughts cohesively, Jaune missed how Neo's mirth slowly vanished from her face and regained an almost hawkeyed expression that studied his every mannerism with an intuition that rivalled even Glynda's.

"But there's a lot to keep in mind!" Jaune then blurted out as he returned his gaze to the assassin who was smiling just as cheerily as ever before continuing, the mask falling from her face as he talked and she jotted down a few things in her scroll, "I mean, we're still kinda on two different sides of the law, and I dunno... while I can say I don't really care about that detail... it's just, you... and Roman... and there's something bigger going on... and... I just- what?"

Jaune stopped when Neo impatiently snapped her fingers a few times to get his attention, his gaze returning to the mute assassin whose hand came shut in a gesture asking his mouth to do the same before pointing at a reasonably long block of text from her device. However, instead of having him read it like he'd originally supposed, Neo simply pushed a small microphone icon which had a built-in text-to-speech option activate.

Jaune listened as an eerily monotonous, robotic female's voice echoed around the warehouse deck to read out loud the words Neo had typed with random glitches and pauses as those tools were wont to have.

 _I will, tell you why, I showed this to you_

 _And I'll admit, that I, have been searching for someone, who fits_

 _This description, a long time... But it seems, you didn't figure it, out_

 _Yes... I yearn for someone, who has learned to live happily, even with nothing..._

 _I crave someone, who, can love carnage, even, while in agony..._

 _I will give myself, to, someone who will, relish in the, darkness as much as in the light..._

 _Because, only then can, someone hope to understand, me..._

 _Because only, then can I have, hope..._

Jaune listened intently, looking to make sense in the words and in the young woman who simply clutched a hand to her heart dramatically and fluttered her eyelashes at him as the narration came to a close... just like she had when he was naught but a rabid animal to her.

And that's when he realized something was wrong.

"You say that... but you say I never figured it out, huh?" he began carefully, the young woman pacing back in front of him with her confident smirk before giving him a single nod, "But you know... there is something I'll have to admit I remembered. From the docks, actually..."

Oh, remembered he had... something that put the final nail in the coffin of his lingering doubt and now cemented his resolve going forward. Neo simply raised a stoic brow.

"Roman talked about a cease and desist _given_ to him... to keep from _killing_ me," Jaune continued, knowing her mannerisms by now well enough to take the slight glint of recognition in her eyes as acknowledgement enough, "And I recall he mentioned it was one _you_ never received... it's, by my guess, from someone above you... him... the _Fang_... but an order I'd bet my life on that you _still_ haven't received."

An abysmal silence fell over the room as the two locked gazes, Jaune preparing himself for a reality he could now already foretell.

"You're going to kill me now, aren't you."

A flash of a predatory grin under madly flickering eyes preceded the faint shattering sound of aura that revealed her trusty chokuto already in her hand.

* * *

 _"Oh... so that's how she did it..."_

* * *

Jaune spent the next loop in silent awe and contemplation, more than enough to get Neo to respond in what he realized was in part from actual concern like she previously had. The words came out naturally like they always did with his mind back in order, but it was the reality itself that he was still trying to grasp.

First and foremost, was her weapon. She had never _not_ been armed, which bade the knight more than enough reason to believe that any hasty attempt to escape, even with some control over his weapon, would've been about as useful as facing a Nora with a fully loaded grenade launcher in an open field... butt naked.

Secondly, was the living personification of a mystery standing in front of him. How someone with a duality like that could even exist was beyond him, but it took the careful consideration and reconsideration of her real and disguised mannerisms in order to hope to find a commonality. There wasn't. And that was because in a very real way... she'd never stopped lying to him.

That is, until she pulled out her childhood notes from long ago.

Jaune watched her reactions from the moment he'd smiled to the moment he was about to read just how much such a thing would strike her coming from a person like him, and every single one had a strange sense of purity that couldn't be faked. In fact, Neo seemed more at ease where she stood than practically anyone else he'd ever met when she was like this... a paradox, but one he finally began to uncover as he read aloud the final point.

"Five. _Above all, symptoms of The Crazy is a must; however, one who also has a pure and innocent smiling face would be nice_... oh..."

It... actually all made sense now.

This _was_ the bridge for her, and as Jaune simply blinked at the young woman currently giving him a ghost of a bashful smile, actually catching how one set of her toes nervously fiddled over the others on her bare feet below from his peripherals before silently seeming to catch herself and quietly clear her throat before closing the paper again and idly sitting cross-legged on the bed with all the dangerous confidence she ever had, he practically mentally cartwheeled across it. This wasn't about her finding reconciliation at all.

It was about accepting the truth that a world where there was only one form of justice, one path to survival, or one common good in the midst of a cheating, scheming, broken human race was complete and utter _folly_.

The sense of it... the irony of it... the utter fact that even _those_ two things could both be true in the life he'd come to know was now something he couldn't help but find _hilarious_.

"Hmph. The very _idea_ of good and bad is pointless to you, isn't it," Neo raised a single stoic brow, "Life isn't about walking one of two paths, it's about walking a single path where both good and bad _coexist_."

He actually couldn't help laughing at himself, even as he noticed her gaze gaining an almost hawkeyed expression that studied his every mannerism with an intuition that rivalled even Glynda's. If anything, it only made his knowing, devilish grin spread wider as he proclaimed the results of his reflection - even though he knew he'd still likely die another three or four times before _actually_ getting it right...

"There's nothing to understand but the world we live in itself!" Jaune cried out with his discovery, each sentence uttered like a foundation of truth itself at the young woman.

"Life _is_ nothing!"

"Carnage _is_ agony!"

"And darkness is the one thing you can _never_ escape!"

Jaune let out an almost disdainful chortle at the reality of it all and the irony of just how much sense it made from _personal_ experience before adding while looking at the increasingly neutral woman dead in the eye, "You don't want to be _understood_ , you want to find someone who actually _realizes_ how life works; the _sick_ , _TWISTED_ fact that we'll _never_ escape the Grimm living _within_ us on our own as a species... to _**know** this inalienable truth, and to **still** be able to move on!_ "

" _Because_ ," he then continued silently with an ear-to-ear grin before jolting forward with an increase in volume that even caused the young assassin herself to flinch for the first time, " _BECAUSE_... _!_ "

"You were never looking for someone to love... you were looking for someone finally worth _killing_ ," the knight finally finished with a grave-like finality, halting any reaction from the young woman as he lifted his chin with a confident smirk that was eerily identical to _hers_ before adding, "Maybe then... ohh, maybe _then_ ~ you'll consider ending your silence."

At this point, as tired as he felt, Jaune let his head fall forward with a dark chuckle that strangely let itself out on its own accord without him even willing it before gazing back up at Neo with a wide smile under an almost mockingly apologetic expression, " _Keh_... you are one _twisted_ excuse for a human being... you know that?"

An abysmal silence fell over the room that was so intense that you could hear a pin drop - and it _was_ heard dropping, a chokuto sized version, that is - as the two locked gazes, Jaune preparing himself but finding himself completely blindsided to face the moment when an empty-eyed Neo's irises each fell to pink and she quickly closed the space between them...

Before locking her lips around his with an intensity he had never even imagined _possible_.

Jaune's final sane thought before something much more _primitive_ took over was the mild concern from realizing he'd only needed one single loop to figure out this fractured, disfigured soul. But with a single guttural moan emanating from Neo's depths and through her mouth connected to his, however, such thoughts were whisked away faster than a screen door in a hurricane.

In the state he was now in, the intensity was utterly _contagious_ , not to mention the buildup from the growing tension from having a mostly naked woman prancing around him for the better part of several time-looped hours, and he found himself panting for more when the kiss itself was broken momentarily only for Neo to hastily reach around and undo the shackles.

They fell, Jaune following and caught by the young woman, and any thought the knight had that this assassin would actually support him went out the window as she merely locked her arms around his neck and bodily flipped him onto the bed before continuing her work on his wanting lips from on top of him.

The body heat from her was _scathing_ from such a proximity, yet this discomfort only seemed to fuel his baser instincts even more as he quickly regained use of his sore arms and roughly grabbed her around her back and around her head to pull her even closer to him and deepen the intimacy of their own spontaneous folly... her own hand now wrapped around his head with another on his chest, each beginning to glow with aura to enhance the sensory intensity for them both.

But not before she'd already reached a hand back to his hood and pulled his sweater off from over her head and body faster than he could even trace with the naked eye.

Her completely bare body now undulated against his, her hips roughly grinding in long strokes and random directions against what he very well knew she wanted with a ravenous speed and ferocity, continuing to do so as she finally managed to separate her hand enough to yank it out and practically gouge its way down the side of his torso to its target in order to pull down the fabric and begin to leave the pair equally disrobed.

There was no emotion in this. No affection, no tenderness. Only _lust_. Passionate, feverish, desperate. The insatiable baseness of one matched in intensity only by the unwavering fire in the other.

She was crazy. _Absolutely crazy_.

Which was precisely why he couldn't resist.

* * *

Things had certainly changed since the night at the docks. No one was going to deny it, no one was going to doubt it. It was a singular event which had altered the dynamics of what was once normal, or might've felt normal, but said changes were merely subtle. Whether or not they'd play a role in the future was anyone's guess, but current circumstances as they were called for a few... precautionary measures...

Like the changes in outfits that were needed now that their likenesses had been caught on public television once before.

Blake approached her bunk with a satisfied sigh, tightening the last of the wraps while glancing over at her newly-garbed team.

"I thought that class would _never_ end."

" _I'll_ say," the heiress agreed. It'd felt like a bore with Port's class being the last in the day, the one Professor students could agree had the easiest class but from which no one seemed to actually learn anything.

The fact that a certain dolt had managed to actually skip the class completely was only more aggravating to the facetious woman, the thought having righteously ired her so much that she killed the time imagining the dunce idly pestering her for attention just like so many others might've in Atlas. Though to her delight, he'd never once actually done such a thing, thank the heavens. Weiss huffed in satisfaction on her decision to escape further than the Mantle continent in order to begin her huntress career in Vale, brushing aside her admittedly guilty form of amusement in favor of the practicality in how it successfully helped the time go by for her.

"Alright, guys, today's the day! The investigation _begins!_ "

Of course, the heiress may have caught herself in her unusually complacent line of thought about the Arc living across the hallway and sought to correct it... had it not been for her leader practically landing on her from above.

Instead, she huffed out with no small measure of sarcasm, "I'm glad to see we're taking this _so_ seriously."

"Hey, we've got a plan! That's... moderately serious," Yang weakly defended, any further rebuttal halted when a soft knock was heard on the door... followed by a very hard one that visibly shook the door itself.

' _Noraaa_...'

"Ooh they're here," Ruby mumbled excitedly before making her way to the door, "Coming!"

The crimsonette reached the door and opened it to reveal three members of team JNPR present and similarly dressed for the occasion.

"Ooo, and you guys got the dress code memo, sweet!"

"Thank you," Ren noted simply with a slight bow before walking in, his outfit mostly unchanged in garb itself but more in color; his coat was almost the same style except completely black, hemmed to just under his hips and straight around the back, and buttoned all the way up to his neck in traditional form. The sleeves were wide and rolled up to about his forearm, the insides of the cuffs being the usual lotus green and about the only dash of color on his persona beside his ever-present magenta lock of hair. His trousers and shoes were nearly the exact same versions as their usual counterparts, except also black. He briefly turned back to give Ruby a ghost of an apologetic smile, "Also, Nora extends her apologies."

"Yep! Sorry!"

The ginger bomber, however, had a particularly more _pronounced_ change in outfit. Though the shirt itself seemed like a normal t-shirt version of her usual blouse, the little heart cutout on her chest seemed more _torn_ out than cut out. This was worn under a short-sleeve bomber jacket that had streaks of pink but was also mostly black. The look was completed by a pair of knee-high combat boots that generally emulated her usual pair... and a pair of very short black shorts held up by a heavily rhinestoned belt with a heart-shaped buckle that wasn't even currently fastened.

The one who was most likely to have something to say regardless, Weiss winced in a brief moment of hesitation before drawling out cautiously in as much respect for a member of her sister team as she could afford, "Nora... that's..."

" _Totally_ not the right weapon for this outfit, amIright!?" Nora exclaimed, waving Magnihild around a bit in the middle of the room, " _I_ was thinking about rocking something more like a _bat!_ "

"You're not getting a bat, Nora," Ren noted long-sufferingly, the look in his face plenty evidence that this had been repeated several times now and validated by his Mistralian teammate who helpfully clarified such to their sister team after closing the door to the dorm.

"Ren was somewhat adamant on it. So far, reminding her that bats can't launch grenades has proved a more than effective solution!"

This did little to stop Yang's smirk from growing at the champion herself, however, before finally speaking up, "Yeah, but... uhhh, what on Remnant are _you_ dressed for, wonder girl? I know we're running this op on the down low, but that's..."

Pyrrha looked down at her outfit with a small blush as everyone else did the same, "I didn't exactly have anything... inconspicuous to wear... so I decided to use my usual incognito wardrobe for when I'm doing my utmost to avoid, unwanted attention in public..."

The outfit in itself served its purpose well, however; a grey tweed longcoat closed with a thick black leather belt and worn over a plain button up dress shirt with a pair of black boots, it certainly did well to disguise the champion's identity especially with her famed crimson hair now done up in a low tight bun under a nondescript wide-brimmed black bowler hat that replaced her otherwise ever-present bronze circlet.

"I mean... can you, fight in that?" even Blake couldn't help asking with some concern, the catgirl almost sorry for the young woman as Yang abruptly approached to undo the belt around Pyrrha's waist, much to the redread's alarm.

"Y- _Yang?_ "

"Hold on, I'm just gonna," the brawler muttered as she continued her intrusion into the fidgeting Mistrali's space, opening the longcoat wide with a small yelp from the champion in weak protest before quickly adopting a deadpan, "Oh. Oh _no_. Sister we gotta get you something that doesn't look like it came from before the _Great War_... like, are you even _armed_ under this thing?"

It was then evident for all to see that Pyrrha's button up was neatly tucked into a dark-grey pleated longskirt that went down to cover most of her calves down to a scant few inches above her ankles. Despite the truth in the brawler's words, Pyrrha simply snatched the ends of her coat out of Yang's hands and quickly closed it once more with a tight-lipped expression.

"My weapons of choice would defeat the purpose of anonymity if I had to use them out in the open," she retorted calmly with ever the professional demeanor of a public celebrity figure as she continued, but not before slowly adopting a small knowing smile, "I am _more_ than capable of handling myself as I am currently equipped."

Yang and Ruby simply traded a short glance before making nearly identical shrugs.

"Right!" the crimsonette exclaimed aloud, back at her original excitement levels, "Everyone remember their roles?"

Weiss was the first to stand and recite her objective.

"You and I will head to the CCT and check the Schnee records for any other Dust robberies or inconsistencies. Seeing as I'm in the family, it shouldn't be a problem."

"The White Fang has regular faction meetings to hand out orders and recruit new members. If I can get in, I can hopefully find out what they're planning," Blake added factually before cocking her head at the evident absence of the fourth member of team JNPR and trailing off, "But where's...?"

The catgirl's continuation gone unheard, Yang began next, "I have an old friend on the shady side of town that typically knows _everything_ going on in Vale. Getting information out of him shouldn't be _too_ hard..."

"Great! We'll meet up tonight near Yang to go over what we found," Ruby concluded, about to pump her fist in resolution but instead directed by a few pointed glances from her teammates to the other three parties in the room, "Er... right, and there's Jaune's team..."

"Yeah, where _is_ Turkey Boy, anyway?" Yang asked matter of factly, placing her hands on her hips as Blake idly lifted a hand towards her partner indicatively with a light huff at having her question asked for her.

Nora simply shrugged with a small eye roll at the perceived unfairness of her following assumption in her own eyes, " _I_ dunno, we figured Miss Goodwitch might've pulled him aside this morning to start his _tutoring_ again this semester..."

As Ren turned to assay his partner's disgruntled mumbling, something she hadn't really let go since their first semester, Pyrrha then added with some genuine concern first to her team and then to Ruby's, "Still, he never did return last night after we cleaned up at the library..."

" _Cheater_ ," Yang silently hissed at the silent lotus after recalling his immaculate winning streak the night before, unheard by anyone as Pyrrha continued with rushed reassurance.

"...o-of course, we're sure he's fine! It may be that he had to leave campus to attend to his personal matters and didn't return until after breakfast."

"Not to mention the possibility of his other choice resting spots when he can't sleep at night," Ren added, avoiding the particularly peeved brawler's gaze from what he surmised had something to do with being reminded of her crushing losses the night before, "The rooftop, the training grounds, the ballroom-"

Blake hoped that the sudden twitch of her bow wasn't too noticeable, or that no one was aware that he wasn't exactly _alone_ when he spent his nights in the latter...

"There are many times he didn't return to the dorm at all, only meeting us all at breakfast," Pyrrha explained, though her expression fell into somewhat of a new one for her as she considered, "Which... may not have been too concerning during the first semester. But, it'd be encouraging to help my partner feel more at home in our room if that continues to be the case."

Weiss jut her hip out to the side while crossing her arms, cocking a brow and waving a hand out while noting what she figured should've been obvious to his team in the interim of his absence, "Well what about his _scroll?_ Hasn't anyone tried to reach him?"

"Dead," Ren noted blandly, continuing when he got a few worried glances, "But it would hardly be the first time..."

"With how often he loses it or forgets to charge it, it's hardly surprising for us at this point," Pyrrha added amicably in explanation, unable to help a warm smile at the thought of her partner's habits, "In fact, with anything going beyond calls and messaging, he reminds me of my grandfather with how little he knows how to use them."

"Interesting, interesting," Ruby now mused, mulling over the new information while tapping her chin in thought before turning to Jaune's partner, "Should we be worried?"

Nora, calmed as quickly as she ever would be after getting over her barely existent petulance about her leader's tutoring perks, spoke up in her stead with a nonchalant shrug.

"Meh, prolly not. Sometimes his tutoring takes a couple hours, and sometimes it takes all day. I don't see it taking much longer than a couple more hours, though."

With that, Ruby mentally completed her deliberations and clapped her hands with an updated game plan in mind.

"Alright, new plan! I'll go with Weiss; Ren, you and Nora can stick around to see if Jaune comes back on airship or from his tutoring," Ruby concluded, then moving behind Jaune's partner and eliciting a small yelp from the champion as she began pushing her towards her sister, "And Pyrrha, you can go with Yang since she doesn't have a partner. Everyone good?"

She received mostly a few nods in agreement, minus one pondering heiress.

"Actually, Ruby, why don't you go with Yang? After all, she _is_ your sister."

Having pushed Pyrrha far enough to come to a stop beside Yang, the brawler bopping the Mistrali on he shoulder with a winning grin, the redhead returned Yang's gesture with a meek, nervous smile while Ruby turned back to face Weiss with some curiosity.

"But, Weiss, who would go with you, then?"

"Well," the heiress began noncommittally, though she was just extending the act of pondering an answer she already knew in her mind, "I guess Jaune could come with me."

The crimsonette simply cocked a brow in a moment of thought before cracking up, "Hahaha, nah! We don't even know where he is yet!"

While the heiress was certainly not amused that her suggestion had fallen flat, she was powerless to stop her partner from pulling her by the back out the door.

"But! _But!_ "

"Remember guys: we meet up near Yang later, see you then!"

Giving a small smirk at her teammates' antics, Blake turned with a shrug to the remaining students before taking her own leave with a small wave goodbye.

"Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt following Ruby and Weiss towards the airship docks while we wait for Jaune; if anything, we'll be sure to return to the dorms and let everyone know the moment he shows," Ren noted, feeling impelled to speak longer than he was accustomed to if at least to avoid an awkward moment and receiving a grateful nod from his teammate before he and Nora left the room.

"Welp, and then there was GreekFire," Yang idly chirped before grabbing the redhead and leading them out, "C'mon."

The two left the room, Pyrrha somewhat used to the rough handling by now, and once outside took a moment to pause while Yang swiped her scroll across the reader to lock the room before turning back and suddenly freezing at what she saw the champion doing.

"You gotta be-," Yang balked at the disguised Mistrali who'd just pulled out a small pair of black full-framed glasses and put them on to compete the look, the brawler letting out a well-meaning loud chuckle as she began leading her new partner down the hall, "You're really killing me, P-money..."

"It'll save us quite some trouble in the end, you'll see," Pyrrha muttered mousily as they turned a corner and descended into the garage area.

Yang's smirk turned particularly sinister at that.

"Not where _we're_ going~"

"Wh-what?"

"Keep up... I've got something to show you that'll rev the mild mannered schtick right out of ya..."

Pyrrha gulped as they entered the garage and watched the blonde pull out a pair of keys with a honeybee that came attached with a tag that read BEE-YOTCH...

And the blaring roar of what said keys belonged to upon activation.

* * *

 **A/N:** _Ahh... back to normal chapter length. Mind the typos if any, I'll fix them (eventually)._

 _Oh and yeah, Jaune's back to his old self..._

 _Only to get lost down a potentially much worse path. I blame Stockholm. And Florence Nightingale. And crappy luck... or maybe good luck. Lol._

 _Like I once said, it's all a phase that was entirely necessary in the exploration of a Semblance that involves **actual physical death**. There's **no** way Jaune could live a life where the use of such abilities wouldn't turn dark at some point... but now, from the most unlikely of places, he's found the reconciliation he was searching for - a sense of perspective that helps reframe his mind on the reality of the space time continuum in relativity to his end goals. _

_Finally the kid can have some fun again... maybe. Stay tuned for next chapter to find out!_

 _In the meantime, feel free to leave a **Fave, Follow, and Review** to show your support, it's always appreciated and is certainly a boon to my morale! Until next time, so take care..._

 ** _And Happy Reading!_**


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